Public health: ethical issues
External Consultation
Public Consultation
The consultation closed on 15 September 2006
The Council would like to thank everyone who contributed to the consultation. The responses reflected diverse views and provided useful and interesting information. The Working Party is now considering the issues that they raise. Where permission has been granted, the responses will be available to download from this website after the Working Party has published its Report, which is expected to be in autumn 2007.
Although the consultation has now closed, you can still download the Consultation Paper.
The Paper provides background information on the issues and asks questions in the context of five case studies: infectious diseases, obesity, smoking, alcohol, and the supplementation of food and water. For example:
- Are there cases where the vaccination of children against the wishes of their parents could be justified?
- Would measures such as forced quarantine, which helped to control the outbreak of SARS in Asia, be acceptable in countries such as the UK?
- What are the roles and obligations of parents, schools, school-food providers and the government in tackling childhood obesity?
- Should people who smoke or drink excessively be entitled to fewer resources from the public healthcare system, or should they be asked for increased contributions?
- Fortification of foodstuffs such as flour and margarine have been accepted for some time. Why does the fluoridation of water meet with such resistance?
Fact Finding Meetings
Representatives from the following organisations have met the Working Party as part of its research:
• Food and Drink Federation
• Foresight Obesity Project, Office of Science and Technology
• MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge
• London Sport Institute, Middlesex University
• British Fluoridation Society
• National Pure Water Association
• All Party Parliamentary Group Against Water Fluoridation
• British Nutrition Foundation
• Institute of Alcohol Studies, London
• British Beer and Pub Association
• South London and Maudsley NHS Trust
• Action on Smoking and Health
• Centre for Social Marketing, University of Sterling
• Tobacco Manufacturing Association
• Vaccination Awareness Network UK
• Health Protection Agency
• Department of Health
• London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London
Last Updated Tue, 13 November 2007