Ethical and legal challenges posed by severe acute respiratory syndrome - Implications for the control of severe infectious disease threats
Ethical and legal challenges posed by severe acute respiratory syndrome - Implications for the control of severe infectious disease threats
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DOI：
10.1001/jama.290.24.3229
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发表时间：
2003-12-24
影响因子：
120.7
通讯作者：
Fairchild, AL
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gostin, LO;Bayer, R;Fairchild, AL
严重急性呼吸系统综合症（SARS）在全球范围内的出现和传播引发了重要的法律和伦理问题。国家和国际对 SARS 的反应对三个重要的道德价值观产生了深远的影响：隐私、自由和保护公众健康的责任。本文从法律和伦理的角度审视了各国应对 SARS 爆发所采用的各种方法：监视和接触者追踪、隔离和检疫以及旅行限制。这些应对措施，至少在某种程度上结合起来，成功地结束了疫情的爆发。该文章阐述了一系列应对传染病威胁的法律和道德建议，寻求调和公众健康与个人隐私权、自由权和行动自由权之间的紧张关系。为建议提供依据的道德价值观包括预防原则、限制性/侵入性最小的替代方案、公正和透明度。当科学不确定性普遍存在、需要采取紧急公共卫生行动时，制定一套法律和道德建议就变得更加重要，就像SARS一样，未来的流行病无疑也会如此。
The appearance and spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on a global level raised vital legal and ethical issues. National and international responses to SARS have profound implications for 3 important ethical values:, privacy, liberty, and the duty to protect the public's health. This article examines, through legal and ethical lenses, various methods that countries used in reaction to the SARS outbreak: surveillance and contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, and travel restrictions. These responses, at least in some combination, succeeded in bringing the outbreak to an end. The article articulates a set of legal and ethical recommendations for responding to infectious disease threats, seeking to reconcile the tension between the public's health and individual rights to privacy, liberty, and freedom of movement. The ethical values that inform the recommendations include the precautionary principle, the least restrictive/intrusive alternative, justice, and transparency. Development of a set of legal and ethical recommendations becomes even more essential when, as was true with SARS and will undoubtedly be the case with future epidemics, scientific uncertainty is pervasive,and urgent public health action is required.