Public Health Ethics and Law
Public health is grounded in values and moral norms that guide decisions, behaviours, policy and practice. Ethics and law are accordingly core public health competencies for professional practice.
The Faculty of Public Health provides leadership to nurture these competencies, support the public health workforce, and promote greater public understanding, nationally and globally, of ethics, values, and social justice in public health law, policy, and practice.
In an era that is coming to be defined by our collective responses to public and global health challenges, there is a critical need for greater understanding of the moral mandates of public health and how social justice must underpin ethical leadership and professional conduct. The Faculty of Public Health is committed to advancing public and professional discourses, scholarship and the practice of public health ethics and law.
Variability in Public Health Ethics Education across Europe
Public health ethics is a core cross cutting competency for good public health practice. It enables us to systematically explicitly identify, analyse and consider ethical issues inherent in public health practice and research through application of principles, norms and tools to guide practice.
The UK Faculty of Public Health (FPH), European Public Health Association (EUPHA) and the Association of the Schools of Public Health in Europe (ASPHER) have been collaborating to advance the discourse, scholarship and practice of public health ethics.
This report outlines findings from a survey conducted by FPH, EUPHA and ASPHER as part of ongoing efforts to better understand education and training in public health ethics. This research focussing on individual professionals in a European and international perspective is complementary to and building upon research with a focus on experience from education in ethics within the UK public health work force and a survey among ASPHER schools.
Perspectives on Paternalism and Public Health
This report reflects on the debate of paternalism in public health practice and policy. The report furthers FPH’s interest in exploring and encouraging debate within public health ethics, and contains a collection of essays written by ethicists, philosophers, practitioners, and legal scholars.
The report provides thoughts and ideas to support the ongoing discourse around the judgements required for good public health practice and policy making.
World Congress Statement: Public Health for the Future of Humanity - One Planet, One People, One Health
FPH are pleased to support this statement from the 2020 World Congress on Public Health. The statement urges continued collaboration between nations for the betterment of global public health, and highlights our interconnectedness and interdependence.
You may watch a reading of the statement by public health leaders around the world including FPH President Professor Maggie Rae online here. FPH thanks Chair of our Ethics Committee, Dr. Farhang Tahzib for leading this important work.
