Policy Briefing Read policy briefing Downloads Download the briefing 17 May 22 Ethics tools for decision-makers: Responding to public health threats Drawing on our in-depth work on public health ethics, we have published ethics tools to help decision-makers develop a proportionate response to public health threats.
News Nuffield Council on Bioethics welcomes delay in making COVID-19 vaccination compulsory for health care workers in England We welcome the announcement that COVID-19 vaccination will not become a condition of deployment for all healthcare workers in England until the spring. 09 Nov 2021
Press Release Mandatory vaccinations for health and social care workers: Nuffield Council on Bioethics urges Government to gather more evidence and explore other options more thoroughly before introducing coercive measures 14 Oct 2021
Blog Personal responsibility versus legal obligation? Why simplistic binaries make for bad pandemic responses by John Coggon In relation to pandemic policy in England, the absence of sustained ethical discourse at the level of government has created fundamental challenges to establishing how responsibility should be understood—practically, and as a matter of principle. 12 Jul 2021 3
Press Release Trust is a key factor in vaccine uptake, says new briefing by ethics body Trust in those developing, offering, and promoting vaccines plays a key role in decisions about the uptake of vaccines, says a new briefing note from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. 20 Apr 2021
Policy Briefing Read policy briefing Downloads Download the briefing note 20 Apr 21 Vaccine access and uptake This briefing note explores factors influencing the access and uptake of vaccines; the different approaches taken by public health authorities to promote vaccines; and the ethical considerations that arise in this context.
Blog Beyond liberty: social values and public health ethics in responses to COVID-19 by John Coggon Legal and policy responses to COVID-19 rest on and express the balance of different basic values and principles. Earlier and current regulatory approaches bring into sharp relief how liberty must be understood and weighed against other values. This is for the sake of liberty itself, but crucially too for other compelling aspects of social justice. 26 Mar 2020 1
News New briefing: Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic - ethical considerations The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has published a new policy briefing. It setting out the key ethical considerations relevant to public health measures being introduced to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. 17 Mar 2020
Policy Briefing Read policy briefing Downloads Download the briefing 17 Mar 20 Ethical considerations in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic This rapid policy briefing outlines ethical principles that must be considered when developing public health measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Blog COVID-19: public health, public trust and public support by Hugh Whittall A brief analysis of what the Government is doing now to contain COVID-19, the possible restrictive measures that they might take to prevent and control the spread, why these might be justified, and why it is important that the Government sets out publicly – and early - the case for implementing such restrictive approaches. 27 Feb 2020 2
Blog COVID-19 and the ethical imperative of preparedness by Katharine Wright So what relevance has our report to the enormous challenges being posed to health systems and governments the world over by COVID-19? Unsurprisingly, quite a lot. 24 Feb 2020 1
News Guide to the ethics of surveillance and quarantine for novel coronavirus We have put together a short guide to some of the main ethical questions around surveillance and quarantine for infectious diseases, based on the findings of our 2007 inquiry 'public health: ethical issues'. 10 Feb 2020
News Nuffield Council welcomes ban on junk food advertising on TfL networks From today, junk food advertising will be banned on the entire Transport for London (TfL) network in... 25 Feb 2019
Blog Public health ten years on by Dave Archard It is now ten years since the Nuffield Council on Bioethics published its report Public health: Ethi... 05 Dec 2017 1
News New food labelling scheme in line with Council recommendations The Health Minister Anna Soubry today announced the introduction of a new system of consistent front... 24 Oct 2012
News UN Briefing: Governments have an ethical responsibility to address non-communicable diseases Ahead of the UN High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases in New York next week, the Council h... 14 Sep 2011
News Council reminds UK Government of its ethical duty to act as “steward” Hugh Whittall, Director of the Council, has written to The Independent, reminding the UK Government ... 30 Aug 2011
News Intervention ladder informs Lords behaviour change report The House of Lords Science & Technology Committee has drawn on the Council's 'ladder of inte... 19 Jul 2011
News Council cited in White Paper on public health The Coalition Government has published a White Paper, Healthy lives, healthy people, which outlines ... 01 Dec 2010
News Council hosts roundtable to inform Public Health White Paper To help inform the Government's forthcoming Public Health White Paper, on 11 November the Council ... 17 Nov 2010
News Latest NICE guidance supports Council’s recommendations on alcohol Recommendations made by the Council in its 2007 report 'Public health: ethical issues' have been str... 02 Jun 2010
News Whose potbelly is it anyway? Professor Inez de Beaufort gave the Council's 2010 annual lecture on ethics, obesity and public heal... 30 Apr 2010
News NICE adopts stewardship model for public health The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has adopted the Council's steward... 31 Mar 2010
News 2010 Public Lecture: Whose potbelly is it anyway? Professor Inez de Beaufort, Professor of Health Care Ethics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, will... 09 Mar 2010
Press Release Response to the Government's Review of the Licensing Act 2003 “Excessive drinking still causes a huge amount of harm in this country, both in terms of violent c... 04 Mar 2008
News Public health: ethical issues report launch The Council launched its report Public health: ethical issues at a public seminar held in Westminste... 27 Nov 2007
Press Release Government and industry not doing enough for our health The Government and industry are not doing enough to help people live healthy lives, says the Nuffiel... 13 Nov 2007
Report Read report Downloads Download the report Download the guide to the report 13 Nov 07 Public health: ethical issues This report considers what the Government, industry and individuals should do to enable people to lead a healthy life.
Press Release Nuffield Council seeks views on the ethics of public health The Nuffield Council on Bioethics today launched a consultation on the ethical issues surrounding pu... 19 May 2006