Ethical issues in epidemiology and public health in general are very important. Recently there has been an influx in the number of people and scholars interested in carrying out studies in the broad field of epidemiology. This has called for clear understanding of the ethical issues involved in the study and the consequences of not properly following them. Ethical issues in epidemiology studies are related and can be easily identified and focused by effectively analyzing and consulting the relevant parties involved (Holland, 2007). These would lead to the proper addressing of the issues early and as a result dare consequences will be avoided. In order to clearly and perfectly understand the major ethical issues in public health and epidemiological studies, this paper identifies the main ethics of the field and their relationship or importance in epidemiology studies.
The study of public health and epidemiology are closely related making the field very broad. This in turn makes the ethical issues involved in the study of the two disciplines again very broad. Different writers have tried to simplify the field by identifying the main issues involved. This includes the obligation of the professionals to acquire and put into practice the scientific knowledge aimed at having a positively impact on the lives of the population involved and at the same time protect their welfare and interest (Friis & Sellers, 2009). This therefore prohibits the professionals from conducting themselves in a certain way or handling information and data collected contrary to the code of conduct. Various medical blunders that occurred in the past like the Tuskegee and L-dopa experiments has led to the following ethical guidelines that has to be followed by all medical professionals carrying out medical research.
Informed consent; Under this provision any person participating in a medical research must do so by their own free will without being coerced or tricked by the people conducting the research. They should be informed on the purpose of the research, the procedure, the risks involved among other issues. They should also be allowed to withdraw from the research at any stage. This is to prevent cases related to the Tuskegee experiment (Chadwick, 2002).
Privacy and confidentiality; as a way of preventing risk and harm to participants in an epidemiological research, researchers should never disclose sensitive information about the participant to other people. They should not include personal identifiers in the research papers as a way of protecting the image of the participants. Information collected should also be kept safely away from third parties.
Minimizing risks; the core principle of epidemiology is to ensure that the public benefit from the study and that the risks are reduced. This should therefore be considered during studies to ensure that the correct measures are taken and that vulnerable populations are not exposed to dangerous or hazardous research methods.
Avoiding and disclosing conflicts of interest; scientific judgment can be greatly affected by conflict of interest. Researchers should therefore ensure they avoid or disclose their conflict of interest in order to achieve success in their research. This increases people’s confidence in the researchers and their works.
Obligation to communities; epidemiologists have an obligation to disclose the research findings to the members of the community involved. They should therefore ensure they carry out accurate research and respect cultural diversity of the people involved.
Ethics and epidemiology are related in the sense that without considering ethical issues during epidemiological studies the results of the research may be compromised and future studies affected. Researchers should respect the people participating in research and should disclose the findings to them.
References
Ashcroft, R Et al. (2007). Principles of Health Care Ethics. London: Wiley & Sons.
Chadwick A (2002). "Remembering the Tuskegee Experiment". NPR. Retrieved 11th Feb 2013
Friis, R & Sellers, T. (2009).Epidemiology for Public Health Practice. New york: Jones & Bartlett Learning
Holland, S. (2007). Public Health Ethics. New York: McGraw Hill.
Jones J (1981). Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. New York: Free Press.
