his example shows howethical policy-making is a dynamic process that must beadapted to the evolving situation
this continues to highlight how ethics, particularly within the realm of health practice and promotion and policy, needs to be constantly evolving, to keep up to date with contemporary issues, and new understandings
Should the provisionof antiretroviral therapy to those who would get sicker oreven die without it take priority over the provision of medi-cation for the purpose of reducing the risk of transmis-sion
takes into consideration the equity imbalance between different groups of people - what population will benefit the most and which form of distribution would lead to the greatest health outcome for the most people?
prevention is better than waiting for harm to developand then focusing on treatment.
During COVID - restriction public movement and enforcing lockdown may have been considered restricting the human rights of freedom/liberty in many places; however, the threat of infection was very high and already shown to cause loss of life. The lockdowns aimed to be a preventative measure to reduce the amount of disease transmission, also taking pressure off the health care system treating already sick patients
not all personal or societal valueshave equivalent moral status.
It is important to note that although it is normal and respectable for individuals and groups to hold different personal and societal values - all values do not have the same moral status, and it may become more important to discuss the ethics values for issues that become complex.
It is also important to consider the values of other individuals and groups, to provide one with a greater understanding of different issues, and enable a more understanding society
conflictbetween different values
As there is a difference between ethical, social and personal values, certain situations can lead to conflict between the values of different groups. e.g. an ethical value may encourage the general population to help someone in an accident, but an individual's personal values may disagree with that
annot always be adequately addressed by relyingexclusively on existing policies, guidelines or codes of con-duct.
It's important for new policies and guidelines to be developed to tackle new health challenges. Contemporary challenges need contemporary codes of conduct - we cannot expect that procedures that worked decades ago are relevant for issues that have only arisen in recent years.
in all likelihood, the reasonwhy we face challenges in shifting ourhealth care system to a focus on prevention
There are a lot of pre-existing opinions, advice and strategies for health care and promotion that are deep-rooted into many layers of current policies and understanding of health across all different groups of people. Many of these messages and strategies are actually harmful to health promotion and health which has been redefined through the Ottawa Charter and WHO among others. I believe that generational differences in opinions about all aspects of life also contribute to the lack of people actually trying to understand new concepts and the importance of health promotion on a population level. People can become "stuck in their old ways and understandings", perhaps.
The gradientin health suggests that we need populationwide universalist strategies as well as thosetargeted at the most disadvantaged.
It is arguably more important to target disadvantage groups when discussing health promotion strategies, as currently, they are much less likely to receive and understand information about the underlying causes of health, as more of their basic prerequisites for health are unlikely to be met
com-mitment to equity
A reminder to readers that equity should be at the forefront of health promotion and action
The goal is not an academic exercise,
This highlights that it is crucial for governments and policy makers to make change and adjust systems that affect health, as although the determinants are listed in academic literature - they are incredibly relevant in our everyday lives and contribute to ease and dis-ease for all groups of people
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