Should health be the sole and primary goal among other concerns? To optimize or maintain it, should we focus on individual behaviors or collective determinants? How should ethics be defined, and what is its purpose? How does it relate to public health? Some thirty researchers in the humanities and practitioners in the field have contributed to this issue of La Santé en action, which examines the current state of knowledge on the subject and illustrates it with practical examples.

Ethics in Public Health: What Is It and Why Is It Important?

In the fields of medicine and public health, ethical concerns may relate to the individual level—such as prevention, care, or medical research—or to the collective level—such as public health, population health research, health services, interventions, and health policies.

This issue focuses primarily on “practical ethics,” which manifests itself in actions, practices, interventions, and public health services.

The authors explain their definition of ethics and why they have a particular interest in collective ethics in the field of public health. This requires, within the bodies and organizations responsible for public health studies, decisions, and interventions, a specific commitment, reflection, deliberation, and subsequent planning.

In this regard, the role and functioning of the National Advisory Committee on Ethics and the Ethics and Professional Conduct Committee of Santé publique France in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic are described, and certain opinions of the Quebec National Public Health Ethics Committee are analyzed.

Practical Ethics: A Broad Field of Action

In health prevention and promotion, practical ethics addresses a variety of topics:

• surveillance and protection of the population against epidemic threats;

• promotion of conditions conducive to health;

• protection of personal data;

• prevention of the risks of stigmatization and respect for privacy;

• “education,” empowerment;

• listening to those affected and their expectations;

• development of activities or behaviors considered to be health-promoting.

Here are a few examples:

• how can ethics be applied in daily practice in health promotion?

• What pitfalls must be avoided to ensure that empowerment and community participation truly have ethical meaning?

• Why should we be wary of the theoretical concept of “well-being,” which can be misappropriated from its original meaning?

• What are the repercussions of the current COVID-19 crisis on care, health, and people’s daily lives?

• What is the perspective of psychiatrists on these ethical questions, etc.?

Also in this issue:

• Santé publique France recommends banning advertising targeting children and teenagers for food products of low nutritional quality

• “Young people lack the cognitive maturity to resist advertising messages”