The Ethics team of the Department of Ethics, Trade, Human Rights and Health Law (ETH) is working on a project to study the wide range of challenging ethical issues raised by a potential influenza pandemic. A Technical Meeting was held on 18-19 May 2006 in Geneva to examine the major issues and an international consultation was held on 24-25 October 2006. The conclusions and recommendations of these meetings are being used to draft a document on ethical considerations in pandemic influenza planning.

:: The summary of the discussions at the consultation can be found here (English). [pdf 317kb]

Working in collaboration with the Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response (EPR), four working groups were established consisting of a principal consultant (chair) and a multidisciplinary group of 5–10 experts who examined four key areas for which ethical guidance is most critical. Four draft papers were produced which served as a background for the global consultation.

From this process, WHO expects to be able to provide Member States with comprehensive, practical guidance on how to incorporate ethical (and related human rights and legal) considerations into their plans and preparation for, and response to, pandemic influenza.

Working Group One

Equitable access to therapeutic and prophylactic measures

Working Group Two

Ethics of public health measures in response to pandemic influenza

Working Group Three

The role and obligations of health-care workers during an outbreak of pandemic influenza

Working Group Four

Issues that arise between governments when developing a multilateral response to a potential outbreak of pandemic influenza

For more information and comments, please contact Dr Andreas Reis at e-mail: reisa@who.int.

1) Web site of the Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response (EPR)

:: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/en/index.html

2) Pandemic Influenza and Ethics

New Zealand National Ethics Advisory Committee
Ethical Values for Planning for and Responding to a Pandemic in New Zealand - A Statement for Discussion
The National Ethics Advisory Committee (NEAC) has prepared a statement of ethical values for planning for and responding to a pandemic. It identifies widely shared ethical values for our pandemic planning and response. Some are values to govern how we make decisions. Others are values to govern what decisions are made. Values that are recognised in Māori tikanga and kawa are identified alongside other values. The statement is designed to be thought provoking, accessible to a wide range of people, useful at all stages of pandemic planning and useful in a wide range of situations.

:: http://www.newhealth.govt.nz/neac/publications/ethical-values-for-pandemic-planning-and-response.htm

Documents from the Bellagio meeting
With support from the Rockefeller Foundation, an international group of experts met in Bellagio, Italy, from 24 July to 28 July 2006 to consider questions of social justice and the threat of avian and human pandemic influenza, with particular focus on the needs and interests of the world’s disadvantaged.

:: http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/bioethics/bellagio

Pandemic Influenza and Ethics
Stand on Guard for Thee
A report on ethical considerations in preparedness and planning for pandemic influenza by the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics.

:: http://www.utoronto.ca/jcb/home/documents/pandemic.pdf

Citizen Voices on Pandemic Flu Choices
A report of the Public Engagement Pilot Project on Pandemic Influenza, which describes the convening of a representative group of stakeholders and citizens-at-large, the structure and process of stakeholder and citizen dialogues and deliberations, and the decisions made and recommendations that were developed.

:: http://ppc.unl.edu/publications/documents/PEPPPI_FINALREPORT_DEC_2005.pdf

Plate-forme de reflexion pandemie grippale
This site is an initiative by the Espace Ethique and the Université Paris-Sud 11 dedicated to the ethical aspects of a potential flu pandemic [in French].

:: http://www.espace-ethique.org/fr/grippe.php

Provincial Health Ethics Network
The Provincial Health Ethics Network (PHEN) is a non- profit, non- partisan organization which provides resources to Albertans to support systematic and thoughtful analysis of ethical issues in the health system.

:: http://www.phen.ab.ca/pandemicplanning/

Quebec Public Health Ethics Committee (Comité d’éthique de santé publique, CESP)
Opinion about the public health dimension of the Quebec plan for fighting against pandemic influenza (in French).

:: http://msssa4.msss.gouv.qc.ca/fr/sujets/ethiqSP.nsf/22f2ea9b71e5846d85256d0a00761591/35570c61afcd975685256ead00636ccc/$FILE/AVIS_PQLPI-MS_vf.pdf