Efficiency, equity and autonomy: the ethics of vaccination policy.

We aim to investigate the ethical justifiability of different vaccine policy options. Vaccines are credited with having saved more lives than any other medical technology. Their distribution is of critical importance to guarantee a fair equality of opportunity to everyone. We distinguish three different but possibly conflicting ethical values that constitute just vaccination programs: efficiency, equity and autonomy.Cost-effective vaccines must guarantee as much health as possible given the budget constraint. However the distribution of the financial and medical burdens and benefits of vaccination programs in a population should also be equitable. Since the burdens and benefits of vaccination do not remain limited to the vaccinated person, distributive justice is more complex to determine, compared to other health products and services. Moreover the social dimension of vaccination also creates tension between individual rights and societal duties.

Keywords:MODELLING, VACCINOLOGY

Disciplines:Evolutionary biology, General biology, Public health care, Public health sciences, Public health services, Social medical sciences, Applied economics

Project type:Collaboration project