"Pandemic planning puts ethics in spotlight"

The Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy at the University of Minnesota has posted an excellent story exploring the potential for the ethics community to contribute to preparedness efforts for a potential flu pandemic or other public health emergencies. (We'd have recommended the story even if our project wasn't a prominent part of the piece, though it happens to be.) The story has also been picked up by the website of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

Welcome to those visiting this site for the first time as a result of that story. Take a look around, as we have nearly three months worth of posts in the archives available to the right. As the perspectives in the CIDRAP story suggest, we believe that the perspective of ethics has a great deal to contribute to discussions of vaccines and vaccination efforts, particularly when offered long before 'ethical controversies' occur. As a result, the range of material covered on this site extends well beyond the traditional terrain of the ethics of vaccines, as every aspect of vaccine science and policy relies upon stated or unstated beliefs relating to ethical considerations. Enjoy the site.