Skip to main content

Listen to stakeholders’ experiences

Soon after the crisis is over, gather information on how the pandemic response was experienced by groups in the community.

  • Public engagement and involvement of relevant stakeholders should be part of all aspects of plan­ning. WHO Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Public engagement and involvement are essential to build public will and trust and should be evidenced throughout the planning and response process. CDC Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Diverse public voices should be involved in determining the need for restrictions and in articulating the ethical justification for these restrictions. CDC Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Ensure that those affected by the decisions have a voice in decision making and agree in advance to the proposed process. CDC Ethics in Pandemic Flu
  • Governments and the health care sector should ensure that there are formal mechanisms in place for stakeholders to bring forward new information, to appeal or raise concerns about particular allocation decisions and to resolve disputes. University of Toronto
  • Health care professionals’ input in the decision-making process, in addition to the presence of communication mechanisms that allow for the expression of dissatisfaction by the health care professionals, allows for the iterative evaluation and improvement of the protocol. Indiana University
  • Incorporate individual and community experiences and perspectives in the development of individual and collective solutions to public health issues. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.3.6.
  • Engage individuals and communities in the development of individual and collective solutions to public health issues. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.3.5.
  • Create meaningful opportunities for ongoing dialogue with stakeholder communities and the public at large to identify health challenges, opportunities, and priorities for action. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.4.1.
  • Be diligent in identifying communities and groups with a stake in public health planning and program activities. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.4.3.
  • Convene stakeholders throughout all phases of policy and intervention development, implementation, and evaluation. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.4.4.
  • Be attuned to cultural, social, and historical contexts that influence community health and receptivity to public health partnerships. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.4.7.
  • Balance perceived needs with expressed and expert-defined needs to improve community health. APHA Code of Ethics, 4.1.3.


What is Pandemic Ethics?

A pandemic is pervasive in scope and touches virtually every human-made system. In this dashboard, we focus on ethics in a government’s or an employer’s actions in a pandemic.

Public health ethics addresses the relationship between those governing or administrating and the population or employees they serve. They are best summarized by the Public Health Code of Ethics of the American Public Health Association.

Contact Jim Thomas