WHO Guidelines on Ethical Issues in Public Health Surveillance

Abstract

Public health surveillance is the bedrock of outbreak and epidemic response, but it reaches far beyond infectious diseases. It is sometimes called the radar of public health: it allows health offi cials to map disease, spot patterns, identify causes, and target interventions. Surveillance, for example, is central to understanding the increasing global burden of noncommunicable conditions. By helping to determine patterns and causes of morbidity and mortality, it can help guarantee access to safe food, clean water, pure air, and healthy environments. Surveillance, when conducted ethically, is the foundation for programs to promote human well-being at the population level. It can contribute to reducing inequalities: pockets of suffering that are unfair, unjust and preventable cannot be addressed if they are not fi rst made visible. But surveillance is not without risks for participants and sometimes poses ethical dilemmas. Issues about privacy, autonomy, equity, and the common good need to be considered and balanced, and knowing how to do so can be challenging in practice. The WHO Guidelines on Ethical Issues in Public Health Surveillance is the fi rst international framework of its kind, it fi lls an important gap. The goal of the guideline development project was to to help policymakers and practitioners navigate the ethical issues presented by public health surveillance. This document outlines 17 ethical guidelines that can assist everyone involved in public health surveillance, including offi cials in government agencies, health workers, NGOs and the private sector