Chapter Four The Importance of Ethical and Human Rights Issues in Global Health The Importance of Ethical and Human Rights Issues in Global Health • Failure to respect human rights is often associated with harm to human health • Health research with human subjects puts people at risk for the sake of other people’s health • Health investments must be made in fair ways since resources are limited The Foundations for Health and Human Rights • Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other legally binding multilateral treaties • Governments are obliged to respect, protect, and fulfill the rights they state Selected Human Rights The Rights-Based Approach • Assess health policies, programs, and practices in terms of impact on human rights • Analyze and address the health impacts resulting from violations of human rights when considering ways to improve population health • Prioritize the fulfillment of human rights Selected Human Rights Limits to Human Rights • Circumstances in which someone’s rights may be temporarily suspended • Suspension of rights should be as narrow as possible • Suspension should be carried out with due process and monitored Selected Human Rights Human Rights and HIV/AIDS • Health condition that is stigmatized and discriminated against • Protecting the rights of people who are HIVpositive to employment, schooling, and participation in social activities • Ensuring access to care • Policies regarding testing • Protection of confidentiality Research on Human Subjects • Most research studies don’t benefit the people who participate in them • Ethical concerns about putting participants at risk for the sake of other people’s health Key Human Research Cases Nazi Medical Experiments • Conducted experiments on euthanasia victims, prisoners of war, occupants of concentration camps • International Scientific Commission investigated and documented abuses after war • Questions over whether it is ethical to use data the Nazis generated Key Human Research Cases The Tuskegee Study • US Public Health Service conducted a study on the natural history of syphilis in African American men • Study went on for 40 years • Subjects were never given treatment • Eventually led to regulations for the protection of human research subjects Key Human Research Cases The “Short-Course” AZT Trials • Trials of a “short-course” AZT regimen to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV • Some people thought that poor people were being exploited since the trials were taking place in low-income countries • Studies remain controversial Research Ethics Guidelines The Nuremberg Code • First document to specify ethical principles that should guide physicians engaged in human research • “Voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential” Table 4.1: The Standards of the Nuremburg Code Source: Regulations and Ethical Guidelines— Directives for Human Experimentation— Nuremberg Code. Available at: http://ohsr. od.nih.gov/guidelines/nure mberg.html. Accessed August 3, 2006. Research Ethics Guidelines The Declaration of Helsinki • Developed ethical principles to guide physicians conducting biomedical research on humans • Principles apply equally to nonphysicians Table 4.2: The Declaration of Helsinki: Key Principles Source: Adapted from World Medical Association. Declaration of Helsinki. Available at: http://www.wma.net/en/30pu blications/ 10policies/b3/index.html. Accessed August 16, 2010. Table 4.2: The Declaration of Helsinki: Key Principles (cont.) Source: Adapted from World Medical Association. Declaration of Helsinki. Available at: http://www.wma.ne t/en/30publications/ 10policies/b3/index .html. Accessed August 16, 2010. Table 4.2: The Declaration of Helsinki: Key Principles (cont.) Source: Adapted from World Medical Association. Declaration of Helsinki. Available at: http://www.wma.net/en/30pub lications/ 10policies/b3/index.html. Accessed August 16, 2010. Research Ethics Guidelines The Belmont Report • US National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research • Identified basic ethical principles • Developed guidelines for research Table 4.3: The Belmont Report Evaluating the Ethics of Human Subjects Research Clinical research protocol must satisfy six conditions: • • • • • • Social value Scientific validity Fair subject selection Acceptable risk/benefit ratio Informed consent Respect for enrolled subjects Evaluating the Ethics of Human Subjects Research Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Important issues when the subjects are likely to be poor, under-educated and without access to good care: • Standard of care • Post-trial benefits • Ancillary care Evaluating the Ethics of Human Subjects Research Human Subjects Research Oversight Today • Ethical review by a research ethics committee • Safeguard against exploitation • Regulations vary from country to country Ethical Issues in Making Investment Choices in Health • Resources will always be fewer than needed to meet everyone’s health needs • Government ministries have tight budgets and need to decide how to allocate funds among options • Better that the choices be made according to explicit, publicly justified criteria Ethical Issues in Making Investment Choices in Health Principles for Distributing Scarce Resources Most plausible allocation proposals is justified by at least one of these ethical principles: • Health maximization • Equality • Priority to the worst off • Personal responsibility Ethical Issues in Making Investment Choices in Health Fair Processes • Transparency about how decisions are made • Representation from stakeholders affected • Appropriate use of scientific data Key Challenges for the Future • Students of global health get insufficient exposure in their training to ethical issues • No mechanisms of enforcement of humans rights • Shortage of trained personnel for reviewing research • Lack of reviews of how investments are made • Unsolved ethical problems
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