AMA Journal of Ethics

During one 2014 Ebola epidemic, arrival of “safe burial” teams was often delayed. Some buried their loved ones themselves, which undermined containment efforts.

Legal approaches to preserving social stability, maintaining trust, supporting therapeutic research opportunities, or diminishing disease severity deserve ethical scrutiny.

Being close enough to patients to care is as critical as remaining distant enough from a pathogen to be safe. This strategy simultaneously frustrates and supports public trust.

Journalists have long covered outbreaks of infectious disease and newsrooms have wielded their power both responsibly and irresponsibly.

Culturally appropriate responsiveness to mental illnesses is critical to mitigating local persons’ distrust of international clinicians.

Multiple pieces of reclaimed pallet wood are sculpted into a lateral cerebrum and a gradient of burned wood visually represents a crisis among health care professionals.

Epidemics can threaten everyone on earth, yet responses are not implemented in all regions to contain disease.

WHO suggests doing research during outbreaks but says little about local researchers’ access to samples or subjects’ access to what’s learned.

Not only medicine, but anthropology and international relations are needed to respond to global public health crises.

Balancing need for global solidarity against local stakeholders’ safety concerns is one source of tension when trying to mitigate global risk.