title: The ethics of disease eradication.
abstract: This paper provides an examination of the ethics of disease eradication policies. It examines three arguments that have been advanced for thinking that eradication is in some way ethically exceptional as a policy goal. These are (1) global eradication has symbolic importance, (2) disease eradication is a global public good and (3) disease eradication is a form of rescue. It argues that none of these provides a good reason to think that individuals have special duties to facilitate eradication campaigns, or that public health authorities have special permissions to pursue them. But the fact that these arguments fail does not entail that global disease eradication is ethically problematic, or that it should not be undertaken. Global eradication of a disease, if successful, is a way of providing an enormous health benefit that stretches far into the future. There is no need to reach for the idea that there is a special duty to eradicate disease; the same considerations that are in play in ordinary public health policy--of reducing the burden of disease equitably and efficiently--suffice to make global disease eradication a compelling goal where doing so is feasible.
authors.affiliation: University College London, Philosophy Department, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom. Electronic address: james.wilson@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D060740:Disease Eradication / Q000379:methods*; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D017589:Immunization Programs / Q000941:ethics*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000941:ethics* / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Eradication; Ethics; Global public goods; Symbolic value; Time discounting; Vaccination ethics