Abstract
Ideological differences between the individual and population focus spans all public health actions from research to policy decisions. Growing interest in applying ethics to public health has strengthened the theoretical basis for public health to address the fundamental causes of disease. It bestows on governments a key role in improving population health, and underlines the participation and responsibility of all levels of society. The debate on whether public health research and practice should engage in political action touches on several issues. We focus here on two main functions of public health: governance and advocacy. The role of the government in promoting health and reducing inequalities is challenged in at least three areas: the capacity of public administrations; the engagement of public–private interactions; and, the use of law to improve population health. An adverse global political and ideological environment causes the loss of governments’ capacity to protect health, promotes risky interactions with transnational corporations to promote health and hampers the use of law as a public health tool. In this context, public health advocacy emerges as a key action to advance population health, although there are several visions on which type of advocacy better integrates public heath principles and values. The contributions of the humanities could benefit public health research and practice and help public health to face its present and future challenges.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acheson, D. (1988). Public health in England. The report of the committee of inquiry into the future development of the public health function. London: H.M. Stationery Office.
Barrett, D. H., Ortmann, L. W., Dawson, A., Saenz, C., Reis, A., & Bolan, G. (Eds). (2016). Public health ethics: Cases spanning the globe. Switzerland: Springer. Accessed February 8, 2008, from http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319238463
Carlisle, S. (2000). Health promotion, advocacy and health inequalities: A conceptual framework. Health Promotion International, 15, 369e376. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/15.4.369.
Chapman, S., & Wakefield, M. (2001). Tobacco control advocacy in Australia: Reflections on 30 years of progress. Health Education & Behavior, 28(3), 274–289. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019810102800303.
Clark, J., & McGoey, L. (2016). The black box warning on philanthrocapitalism. The Lancet, 388 (10059), 2457–2459. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)32184-5.
Cohen, D. (2012). European Medicines Agency is to tighten up on advisers’ conflicts of interest. British Medical Journal, 344, e2388. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e2388.
Cohen, D., & Carter, P. (2010). Conflicts of interest. WHO and the pandemic flu “conspiracies”. British Medical Journal, 340, c2912. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c2912.
Commission on Social Determinants of Health. (2008). Closing the gap in a generation: Health equity through action on the social determinants of health: Commission on Social Determinants of Health final report. Ginebra: World Health Organization. Accessed February 8, 2018, from http://www.who.int/social_determinants/thecommission/finalreport/en/
Corporate Europe Observatory. (2010). A red light for consumer information. Accessed February 8, 2018, from http://corporateeurope.org/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/files/article/ceo-food-labelling.pdf
Cuellar, M. F. (2014). Coalitions, autonomy & regulatory bargains in public health law. In D. Carpenter & D. A. Moss (Eds.), Preventing regulatory capture special interest influence and how to limit it. The Tobin Project (pp. 326–362). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Diamandouros, P. N. (2011). Draft recommendations of the European Ombudsman in his inquiry into complaint 775/2010/ANA against the European Food Safety Authority. Accessed February 8, 2018, from http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/en/cases/recommendation.faces/en/11089/html.bookmark
European Parliament. (2012). Decision of 10 May 2012 on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Food Safety Authority for the financial year 2010. (C7-028672011/2226(DEC). Accessed February 8, 2018, from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A7-2012-0299&language=EN
Fundació Víctor Grífols i Lucas. (2013). Casos prácticos de ética y salud pública N° 29. Barcelona: Fundación Grífols.
Galea, G., & McKee, M. (2014). Public–private partnerships with large corporations: Setting the ground rules for better health. Health Policy, 115, 138–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2014.02.003.
Gilmore, A. B., Savell, E., & Collin, J. (2011). Public health, corporations and the new responsibility deal: Promoting partnerships with vectors of disease? Journal of Public Health (Oxford, England), 33, 2–4. https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdr008.
Ginn, S. (2011). “Responsibility deal” is unlikely to produce health benefits, says report. British Medical Journal, 343, d5791. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d5791.
Gollust, S. E., Baum, N. M., & Jacobson, P. D. (2008). Politics and public health ethics in practice: Right and left meet right and wrong. Public Health Management Practice, 14(4), 340–347. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.PHH.0000324561.42039.47.
Gostin, L. O., & Gostin, K. G. (2009). A broader liberty: J.S. Mill, paternalism and the public’s health. Public Health, 123(3), 214–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2008.12.024.
Gostin, L. O., Magnusson, R. S., Krech, R., et al. (2017). Advancing the right to health-the vital role of law. American Journal of Public Health, 107(11), 1755–1756. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.304077.
Hernández Aguado, I. (2017). La libre opción individual y la salud. Paternalismo directivo o irresponsabilidad pública ante el sufrimiento y la desigualdad. Folia Humanística, 5, 1–21.
Hernández-Aguado, I., & Chilet-Rosell, E. (2018). Pathways of undue influence in health policy-making: A main actor’s perspective. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 72(2), 154–159. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2017-209677.
Hernández-Aguado, I., & Zaragoza, G. A. (2016). Support of public-private partnerships in health promotion and conflicts of interest. British Medical Journal Open, 6(4), e009342. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009342.
Hoff, A., Lelieveldt, H., & van der Does, R. (2016). A biased rapporteur or politics as usual? Reassessing the balance of interests in the EU food information labelling case. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(2), 296–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2015.1051095.
Kass, N. E. (2001). An ethics framework for public health. American Journal of Public Health, 91 (11), 1776–1782. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.91.11.1776.
Krieger, N. (2015). Public health, embodied history, and social justice: Looking forward. International Journal of Health Services, 45(4), 587–600. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731415595549.
Krieger, N., & Birn, A. E. (1998). A vision of social justice as the foundation of public health: Commemorating 150 years of the spirit of 1848. American Journal of Public Health, 88(11), 1603–1606. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.88.11.1603.
Kurzer, P., & Cooper, A. (2013). Biased or not? Organized interests and the case of EU food information labelling. Journal of European Public Policy, 20(5), 722–740. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2012.751703.
Lenzer, J. (2015). Centers for disease control and prevention: Protecting the private good? British Medical Journal, 350, h2362. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h2362.
Lomazzi, M. A. (2016). Global Charter for the Public’s Health – The public health system: Role, functions, competencies and education requirements. European Journal of Public Health, 26(2), 210–212. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckw011.
Mann, J. M. (1997). Health and human rights: If not now, when? Health and Human Rights, 2(3), 113–120. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.96.11.1940.
McGoey, L. (2012). Philanthrocapitalism and its critic. Poetics, 40, 185–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2012.02.006.
Michaels, D. (2008). Doubt is their product: How industry’s assault on science threatens your health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Mindell, J. S., Reynolds, L., Cohen, D. L., & McKee, M. (2012). All in this together: The corporate capture of public health. British Medical Journal, 345, e8082. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e8082.
Nuffield Council on Bioethics. (2007). Public health: Ethical issues. London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Accessed February 8, 2018, from http://nuffieldbioethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Public-health-ethical-issues.pdf
Richter, J. (2004). Public–private partnerships for health: A trend with no alternatives? Development, 47, 43–48. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1100043.
Robinson, C., Holland, N., Leloup, D., & Muilerman, H. (2013). Conflicts of interest at the European Food Safety Authority erode public confidence. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 67(9), 717–720. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2012-202185.
Rubin, R. (2016). Tale of 2 agencies: CDC avoids gun violence research but NIH funds it. Journal of the American Medical Association, 315(16), 1689–1691. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.1707.
Smith, K. (2013). Beyond evidence-based policy in public health. The interplay of ideas. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Smith, K. E., & Stewart, E. A. (2017). Academic advocacy in public health: Disciplinary ‘duty’ or political ‘propaganda’? Social Science & Medicine, 189, 35e43.
Sun, L. H. (2018). CDC director resigns because of conflicts over financial interests. The Washington Post. Accessed February 8, 2018, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/01/31/cdc-director-resigns-because-of-conflicts-over-financial-interests/?utm_term=.66012d292d1e
Thomas, J. C., Sage, M., Dillenberg, J., & Guillory, V. J. (2002). A code of ethics for public health. American Journal of Public Health, 92(7), 1057–1059.
UK Health Forum. (2018). Public health and the food and drinks industry: The governance and ethics of interaction. Lessons from research, policy and practice. London: UK Health Forum. Accessed February 8, 2018, from http://www.ukhealthforum.org.uk/prevention/pie/?entryid43=58305
van Dijk, D. P., Dinant, G., & Jacobs, J. A. (2011). Inappropriate drug donations: What has happened since the 1999 WHO guidelines? Education for Health (Abingdon), 24(2), 462.
WHO. (1986). The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. First International Conference on Health Promotion, Ottawa. Accessed February 8, 2018, from http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/previous/ottawa/en/
WHO, International Development Law Organization, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, The University of Sydney. (2017). Advancing the right to health: The vital role of law. Geneva: World Health Organization. Accessed February 8, 2018, from http://www.who.int/healthsystems/topics/health-law/health_law-report/en
WHO-UNICEF. (1978). Primary health-care. Report of the International Conference on Primary Health Care. Alma-Ata, USSR. Geneva: World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/publications/almaata_declaration_en.pdf
Wiist, W. (2011). The corporate playbook, health, and democracy: The snack food and beverage industry industry’s tactics in context. In D. Stuckler & K. Siegel (Eds.), Sick societies: Responding to the global challenge of chronic disease (pp. 204–216). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Hernández-Aguado, I., Chilet-Rosell, E., Pastor-Valero, M. (2019). Ethics and Public Health Policies. In: Vallverdú, J., Puyol, A., Estany, A. (eds) Philosophical and Methodological Debates in Public Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28626-2_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28626-2_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28625-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28626-2
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsMathematics and Statistics (R0)