Public Health Ethics
Ethical principles and theories are significant tools utilized in decision-making, especially in ethically sound organizations. Their significance in representing individuals’ points of view on the contentious issue underpins their utility. These theories guide individual’s actions, practices, and policies that define their routine activities. Ethical theories such as deontology, utilitarianism, and egoism, among others, represent an individual’s point of view and are significant in informing decision-making processes in these organizations. Ethical principles also provide frameworks that determine individual and organizational practices and norms. Such principles include beneficence, least harm, respect for autonomy, and justice (Malomo & Bernstein, 2016). This paper seeks to analyze the ethicality of policies and laws that were initially postulated and propose changes that may be made to these laws to make them ethically sound. Do you need urgent assignment help ? Get in touch with us at eminencepapers.com.
The public health policies selected in SLP 1 are those mandating mask-wearing in public spaces and policies restricting travel and public gatherings. The significance of these laws was to curtail the spread of infectious diseases. These laws were in concert with most ethical principles and theories. Such regulations reinforced by these laws’ enforcement include the ethical principles of beneficence, least harm, and justice. Additionally, these laws were in concert with the ethical theories of utilitarianism and deontology.
The ethical principle of beneficence requires the individual to decide to do what is right and good. This principle demands that in solving a moral dilemma that requires an individual’s perspective, their priority should be preserving good. In this case, the governments are forced to decide on disease spread curtailment. In the interest of public health, containment measures, presented by the enforced laws, should be implemented to preserve people’s lives. It was thus the best decision as far as the ethical principle of beneficence is concerned. This principle is closely related to the other direction of least harm. The decisions made by the authorities were targeted at attaining the most minor damage possible to the communities. In this case, it is a disease spread and the eventual consequences that may result from infection, such as morbidity and mortality (Hoffman, 2020). By enforcing these containment laws, the authorities ensure the least harm to community members.
This law enforcement also considered the ethical theories of deontology and utilitarianism. Deontology theory asserts the need for individuals to strictly adhere to their obligations whenever they are called to make decisions that require ethics. In this case, the community members should observe measures that promote their health, such as the containment laws enforced by the governments. Utilitarianism, on the other hand, describes the ability of an individual to predict or foresee the consequences of an action. In this case, increased morbidity and mortality are attributed to spiraling disease cases. It is thus the responsibility of the governments to predict this and to curtail it early enough to prevent these case scenarios.
Enforcement of these, however, comes at a cost. Often, little regard is given to the principle of autonomy, with enforcement measures not always giving individual community members a right of choice. Punitive measures are often drawn to violators, and heavy fines are the consequence (Tabernero et al., 2020). This is in disharmony with the ethical principle of respect to autonomy, which requires individuals to make decisions on matters that affect their lives.
The health laws proposed in module 2 SLP are those laws that grant various federal institutions authority to enforce multiple safety measures. Such institutions are the CDC and the HHS, and their mandate is evident in disease outbreaks and other public health concerns. These bodies have been responsible for informing the various containment measures that, in their judgment, are thought to curtail the spread of these diseases. Isolation and quarantine are some of these measures that have found considerable significance in containing the spread of these diseases.
As with policy enforcement, these laws don’t consider the ethical principle of autonomy. These provisions are not debatable and offer directions to the people without seeking their consent. The law even prescribes punitive measures to which violators are served. The government, through police services, is mandated to enforce these laws without fail. These provisions thus disregard the ethical principles of respect to autonomy.
Whereas these laws may seem to dictate and disregard the ethical principle of autonomy, their significance in curtailing the spread of infectious diseases is evident. These measures have been implicated in reduced morbidity and mortality in the event of outbreaks. This, therefore, means that these laws are in concert with the ethical principles of beneficence and least harm. These laws promote health among communities by reducing their risk of disease and eliminating the spread of infections in case of an outbreak (Whyle & Olivier, 2020). This ensures that no harm befalls these communities and does good to them as required by the principles of beneficence and least harm.
The changes that could be made to these laws to adhere to the prescribed ethical principles are those that border on their enforcement. The nature of these laws is mainly in concert with the majority of the moral codes, except autonomy, as described above. To correct this, the enforcement measures should be gentle enough to appreciate interindividual differences, individual beliefs, and perceptions that may hinder their conformation to these policies and laws. In this regard, the heavy punitive measures could be replaced by other softer and more gentle actions, such as community education and promotions on the importance or benefits of conforming to these provisions. By making the people understand the reasoning behind these provisions, enforcers of these regulations will ignite the intrinsic urge of these people to do to these provisions (Baum et al., 2007). This will significantly reduce the necessity to utilize force and will ensure that the majority easily conforms to these regulations.
Ethical principles and theories define ways of doing things. They also inform decision-making, especially in ethically sound organizations. These ethical principles include beneficence, least harm, and justice. Ethical theories include deontology, egoism, and utilitarianism, among others. Law enforcement and policies need to take into consideration these moral codes. However, this is not always the case, with some principles being disregarded in the law enforcement process.
References
Baum, N., Gollust, S., Goold, S., & Jacobson, P. (2007). Looking Ahead: Addressing Ethical Challenges in Public Health Practice. Journal Of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 35(4), 657-667. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720x.2007.00188.x
Hoffman, D. (2020). Ethical Principles in a Time of COVID-19- A Commentary. Annals Of Bioethics & Clinical Applications, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.23880/abca-16000126
Malomo, A., & Bernstein, M. (2016). Ethics Principles and Theories. Neurosurgical Ethics In Practice: Value-Based Medicine, 11-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-54980-9_2
Whyle, E., & Olivier, J. (2020). Social values and health systems in health policy and systems research: a mixed-method systematic review and evidence map. Health Policy And Planning, 35(6), 735-751.
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Question 
Module 3 – SLP
Public Health Ethics
PUBLIC HEALTH ETHICS
Using ethical theories and principles in practice, assess whether the following are ethically sound:
- The public health policy you proposed in the Module 2 SLP.
- The public health laws you selected in the Module 1 SLP.
- What changes would you suggest so that the rules/policies adhere to ethical principles?
- SLP Assignment Expectations