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Where Public Health Meets Ethics. Conceptual Foundations and Practical Challenges of Public Health

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Book cover Ethics in Public Health and Health Policy

Part of the book series: Public Health Ethics Analysis ((PHES,volume 1))

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Abstract

This overview concerning the conceptual foundations and practical challenges of Public Health research and policy, aims to highlight specifically where ethical challenges (and consequently a need for Public Health Ethics) arise. It gives an overview on (I) the origins and the historical development of Public Health arguing that the function and purpose of Public Health has developed over time, from promotion of hygiene in the nineteenth century to a much more comprehensive analysis of social factors that impact on the population’s health in nowadays. In (II) an outline will be provided of what can be understood by “Public Health”, including the trade-off between individual health and the public good, the right to health care, and the role of social determinants of health. To better understand the practical implications, in (III) core goals of Public Health are introduced, as e.g. health promotion, reduction of health inequalities and improvement of health literacy. In (IV) current problems and challenges of Public Health are outlined as demographic and epidemiological changes, the scarcity of health care resources and the resulting need for evidence-based decision making and priority setting, as well as the emergence of increasing global health problems. Finally, in (V) Public Health’s key actors, methods, and related disciplines are introduced, including Epidemiology, Health Monitoring and Reporting, Health Services Research, Prevention and Health Promotion.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    www.gesundheitsinformation.de/ and http://informedhealthonline.com (Accessed 16 June 2011).

  2. 2.

    www.who.int/fctc/en/ (Accessed 16 June 2011).

  3. 3.

    www.who.int/ihr (Accessed 16 June 2011).

  4. 4.

    See e.g. data and publications provided by WHO and its regional offices, www.who.int, or the ‘European Health for All’ database available at http://data.euro.who.int/hfadb/ (Accessed 16 June 2011).

  5. 5.

    Vgl. u.a. www.healthtalkonline.org/, www.youthhealthtalk.org/, www.patientslikeme.com/ (Accessed 16 June 2011).

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Johannes Siegrist for a critical review of a previous version of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences, Institute for History, Ethics and Philosophy of Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, Hannover, 30625, Germany

    Irene Hirschberg & Daniel Strech

  2. Division of Research Strategy, University College London, London, UK

    Jasper Littmann

  3. Institute of Biomedical Ethics, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Daniel Strech

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  1. Irene Hirschberg
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Correspondence to Irene Hirschberg .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, Hannover, 30625, Niedersachsen, Germany

    Daniel Strech

  2. Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, Hannover, 30625, Niedersachsen, Germany

    Irene Hirschberg

  3. Ludwig-Maximlians-University Munchen, Lessingstr 2, Munchen, 80336, Germany

    Georg Marckmann

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Hirschberg, I., Littmann, J., Strech, D. (2013). Where Public Health Meets Ethics. Conceptual Foundations and Practical Challenges of Public Health. In: Strech, D., Hirschberg, I., Marckmann, G. (eds) Ethics in Public Health and Health Policy. Public Health Ethics Analysis, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6374-6_2

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