UK Ethics Accelerator: Coordinating and Mobilising Ethics Research Excellence to Inform Key Challenges in a Pandemic Crisis

COVID-19危机要求政策制定者、研究人员、卫生和社会护理工作者以及公众每天都要解决前所未有的道德困境。解决这些问题是困难的，也是有风险的。道德挑战的复杂性和速度正在导致一些不可避免的伤害，一些可以避免的伤害。伦理加速器（EA）的主要目的是利用和动员现有的英国伦理研究专业知识，以应对这些多重的、持续的伦理挑战。EA将迅速为决策者提供证据、指导和关键分析，帮助改善对不断变化的流行病应对的决策。第二个目标是围绕关键的道德挑战进行系统的公众讨论。第三个目标是确定战略，将道德操守置于未来流行病防范工作的核心。EA将利用和促进英国和国际研究人员的广泛网络，以创建灵活的工作组，为政府，科学，医学和公共卫生的领导提供快速指导和响应建议。它将建立一个虚拟论坛，供公众讨论、审议和了解正在出现的道德挑战。在协调和集中现有的国家投资伦理研究，EA增加了显着的价值，并扩大了伦理研究在科学，医学，政策和社会的潜在影响。主要产出将是快速研究审查;政策指导;委托进行的研究;广泛的同行审查机构;以及利益攸关方的参与。主要成果将是在道德操守专门知识的指导下作出决策，使决策更加透明和负责，从而提高公众的信任。

The COVID-19 crisis demands that policy-makers, researchers, health and social care workers, and members of the public address unprecedented ethical dilemmas on a daily basis. Resolving these is hard, and it is risky. The complexity and speed of ethical challenges are leading to harms-some inevitable, some avoidable-on a significant scale. The main aim of the Ethics Accelerator (EA) is to harness and mobilise existing UK ethics research expertise to bear on these multiple, ongoing ethical challenges. The EA will rapidly provide evidence, guidance and critical analysis to decision- makers, helping to improve decision-making over the evolving pandemic response. A second aim is to enable systematic public deliberation around key ethical challenges. A third aim is to identify strategies to embed ethics at the core of future epidemic preparedness. The EA will leverage and promote a broad network of UK and international researchers to create flexible Taskforces that deliver rapid guidance and responsive advice to leadership in government, science, medicine, and public health. It will establish virtual fora for public discussion, deliberation and information about arising ethical challenges. In coordinating and focusing existing national investments in ethics research, the EA adds significant value and scales up the potential impacts of ethics research in science, medicine, policy and society. Primary outputs will be rapid research reviews; policy guidance; commissioned research; a broad peer review body; and stakeholder engagements. Main outcomes will be decision-making that is informed by ethics expertise, and is more transparent and accountable, thereby improving public trust.