Reaching out to Ebola victims

Coercion, persuasion or an appeal for self-sacrifice

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4600786
AutoresPhilippe Calain (Médecins Sans Frontières), Marc Poncin (Médecins Sans Frontières)
Año2015
Volumen147
Páginas126-133
Fecha de publicación2015-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Science & Medicine (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0277-9536 • E-ISSN: 1873-5347
EditorialElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.10.063
PMID26561947
OpenAlexW2114790983
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas30
Referencias citadas33

The 2014-2015 Ebola crisis in West Africa has highlighted the practical limits of upholding human rights and common ethical principles when applying emergency public-health measures. The role of medical teams in the implementation of quarantine and isolation has been equivocal, particularly when such measures are opposed by communities who are coerced by the temporary suspension of civil liberties. In their encounters with Ebola victims, outreach teams face moral dilemmas, where the boundaries are unclear between coercion, persuasion and appeals for self-sacrifice. For those teams, we propose a set of practical recommendations aimed at respecting the autonomy of epidemic victims and easing tensions within communities. We recognize that some of these recommendations are progressively achievable, depending on the specific stage or setting of an outbreak. Yet with the increasing availability of experimental treatments and research interventions, weighing patients' autonomy against the common good will become an even more pressing ethical obligation

Appeal · Autonomy · Coercion (linguistics · Criminology · Obligation · Persuasion · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Disaster Response and Management · Global Security and Public Health · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research