Nuffield Council on Bioethics publishes coronavirus ethics guide
by Michael Cook | 21 Mar 2020 |
Bioethicists are battling to produce guidelines for politicians and policy-makers in a puzzling time. The UK’s Nuffield Council on Bioethics has produced a document which offers ethical guidance based on a sound knowledge of the dynamics of the disease.
Public health measures need to take into account the following ethical principles, it says:
• Interventions should be evidence-based and proportionate. The aim(s) of the interventions being implemented, and the science, values and judgments underpinning those interventions, should be clearly communicated to the public.
• Coercion and intrusion into people’s lives should be the minimum possible consistent with achieving the aim sought.
• People should be treated as moral equals, worthy of respect. While individuals may be asked to make sacrifices for the public good, the respect due to individuals should never be forgotten in the way in which interventions such as quarantine and self-isolation are implemented.
• Solidarity is crucial: at the international level, between governments; in support from the state for those bearing the costs of interventions; by businesses in how they exercise their corporate social responsibility; and at the individual level in the way we all respond to the outbreak in day-to-day life.
For an amplified explanation of these principles, download this document: Ethical considerations in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Another, briefer, document addresses civil liberties issues.
Michael Cook is editor of BioEdge
One of the guidelines of the UK’s Nuffield Council on Bioethics about the coronavirus pandemic (see below) is that “Liberty-infringing measures to control disease, such as quarantine and isolation, can be justified if the risk of harm to others can be significantly reduced.”
I agree, but I am still surprised at how few questions have been raised about the draconian restrictions on civil liberties prompted by the crisis. These are sure to lead to recession, soaring unemployment, bankruptcies, and social dislocation. They are the harshest that I have ever experienced in my lifetime – and, with few exceptions, there’s been nary a peep of opposition. In fact, my impression is that op-ed pages segued smoothly from anger at government overreach to anger at government underreach in a month.
How long can lockdowns be sustained? As the Wall Street Journal points out, “no society can safeguard public health for long at the cost of its overall economic health.” I don't think that it is utilitarian to observe that deferring or suppressing discussion of the costs, financial and social, of our response to the coronavirus could backfire. Human dignity is paramount; acting ethically is essential. But good ethics is based on a knowledge of all the facts -- and not just the facts about hand-washing.
I agree, but I am still surprised at how few questions have been raised about the draconian restrictions on civil liberties prompted by the crisis. These are sure to lead to recession, soaring unemployment, bankruptcies, and social dislocation. They are the harshest that I have ever experienced in my lifetime – and, with few exceptions, there’s been nary a peep of opposition. In fact, my impression is that op-ed pages segued smoothly from anger at government overreach to anger at government underreach in a month.
How long can lockdowns be sustained? As the Wall Street Journal points out, “no society can safeguard public health for long at the cost of its overall economic health.” I don't think that it is utilitarian to observe that deferring or suppressing discussion of the costs, financial and social, of our response to the coronavirus could backfire. Human dignity is paramount; acting ethically is essential. But good ethics is based on a knowledge of all the facts -- and not just the facts about hand-washing.
 Michael Cook Editor BioEdge |  |  |  |
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