1. Writing Ethics/ Writing Rights
Editorial Team
American Journal of Public Health

2. Writing Ethics/ Writing Rights: The same or different?
Sofia Gruskin, JD MIA
Department Editor

3. Confusions About Rights and Ethics in Public Health
They are exactly the same thing
They are entirely different
They can be used to mean all that is good and just in the world
They are just words one has to say but really mean nothing at all

4. Are There Differences Between Human Rights and Health Care Ethics?
Institutions and individuals they guide
Who drafted them
What they focus on

5. Ethics and Human Rights Build on Similar Principles…
Autonomy
Beneficience
Non-malfeasance
Confidentiality
Veracity
Human Rights
Autonomy
freedom from repression & oppression
Privacy
Accountability

6. …But are Not Identical Ethics Human Rights
Governs relations between people/patients and health providers and researchers
through
Professional codes, review board guidelines, regulations and laws
Human Rights
Establish obligations of state and non-state actors towards people
through
International treaties, declarations and national law

7. Human Rights
Legal claims that indviduals have on society simplyon the basis of their being human
They are « …what governments can do to you, cannot do to you and should do for you…»
Governmental obligations to:
Respect rights
Protect rights
Fulfill rights
Human rights are universal, indivisible and inalienable, and interdependent (Vienna, June 1993)

8. The Value of Human Rights for Health
Public origins and accountability
Legal standards
Advocacy
Framework for programming

9. A 5 Point Agenda for the Health Sector*
Institutionalize the application of human rights perspectives to all health sector actions
Strengthen public health functions to create the conditions necessary for health
Equitable health care financing
Ensure that health care services respond effectively to the major causes of preventable ill-health
Monitor, advocate and take action to address the human rights implications of development policies in all sectors that affect health
*P. Braveman, S. Gruskin, Poverty, Equity, Human Rights and Health. Bulletin of the WHO 2003; 81:

10. The Value of Ethics for Health
They reflect health professional and organizational perceptions, academic analysts’ commentaries and, for instance, the contributions of interest groups
They provide guidelines and codes of conduct

11. Health, Ethics and Human Rights
A state of physical, mental and social well-being
Health
Individual and collective concerns to do what’s right and just
Human Rights
Ethics
Governmental obligations towards people

12. Coming Together distinct values differences in paradigms
guidance for the actions of national and international organizations focused on health and development
observance, action and enforcement

13. Ethics and Human Rights for Better Health
Ethics are enriched by a diversity of perspectives and adjust quickly to evolving issues and resources
Human Rights provide a normative framework and legal mechanisms linking health to human dignity, freedom, well-being and development
They often overlap and complement but do not conflict with each-other
Their respective and combined added value are intrinsic to progress in health

14. Ethics Related to the Validity of Research
Stewart Landers, JD
Associate Editor

15. The Systematic Assessment of Risks and Benefits (From Belmont Report, 1979)
Risks and benefits “in a favorable ratio”
Ideal requires justification of research in the thorough “accumulation and assessment of information about all aspects of the research, and to consider alternatives systematically”
Judgment of the validity of the presuppositions of the research

16. Respect and Justice
Occur in context of disparities in time, place and population
Shift in view of research in prison population
Equity in access to standards of care

17. Current Challenges Increase in data collection of individuals
Government linking of funding to data collection
Whose ethics matter?

18. October 2005: Prisons and Health

19. Ethics Compliance
The Journal adheres to the Public Health Code of Ethics* of the American Public Health Association. You are required to state whether you have complied with this code. If you believe you were justified in departing from the code, a short explanation (1-2 sentences) is required. *