QUESTION
For this assignment you are being asked to consider ethical issues in public health and health services.2- 3 paragraphs & References1. What tensions exist between protection of the publics health and protection of individual rights?2. How should scarce health resources be allocated and used?While there are no right answers to these questions, it is necessary to be able to support your position with evidence, link medical ethics to your answer when appropriate, and cite the sources that you use in addressing the question you select.
Answer 1 Public health refers to promoting and protecting the health of the population. It is about providing such conditions to the society that promotes the welfare and health of the people. However, working towards promoting and protecting the health of the society can lead to tensions between protection of public health and protection of individual rights. For example the practice to quarantine the people affected with contagious disease seems to be an intrusion in their freedom but is considered to be an appropriate practice by the advocates of public health considering it to be for the welfare of the society. In the past strict measures have been taken against minority groups because of they being infected by a certain disease. Even in the modern times the tensions between publics health and individual rights continue to exist. On one hand the decision to ban tobacco and other toxics is a step forward towards promoting public health. On the other hand it is the decision of an individual to consume such products or not. The privacy of health data and other confidential information such as the HIV status of an individual is a matter of serious concern. However
with electronic storage of data the privacy of this information is a serious issue and can sometimes hinder the individual rights. For example public health research is restrained on account of the non-availability of the confidential information about the diseases and individuals. If such data is made available for research then the rights of the individuals are sacrificed. Similarly vaccination is although beneficial for everyone but may result in certain adverse side-effects on certain individuals. Therefore implementation of vaccination as a law may be considered as undermining of the respect for autonomy but is meant for the greater public good. Therefore even though tensions exist between public health and individual rights but the major aim of all the policies relating to
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