Humanitarian Aid, Infectious Diseases, and Global Public Health

The author examines ethical challenging priorities in humanitarian aid, global trends in both common and neglected infectious diseases, key ethical issues in global health research, and proposes a set of principles that could inform global health practice. In light of his experience in critical contexts across the globe, he lists ten priorities that describe what humanitarian interventions should provide: (1) initial assessment of the situation, (2) water and sanitation, (3) food and nutrition, (4) shelter and site planning, (5) health care in the emergency phase, (6) control of communicable diseases and epidemics, (7) measles immunization, (8) public health surveillance, (9) human resources and training, and (10) coordination. Moreover, globally, and particularly in low-income countries, well-known infectious diseases are resurgent and new infectious diseases are discovered. Finally, in humanitarian interventions, the author proposes seven principles: justice or fairness, beneficence, utility, respect for persons, liberty, reciprocity, and solidarity.