NEW ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF DISEASES IN THE GLOBALIZATION AGE

The appearance and worldwide circulation in the past few years of some new infectious (pathogenic) agents (such as coronaviruses, SARS) or other more virulent variants of already known viruses (influenza viruses H1N1 or H5N1, XDR tuberculosis) have raised concerns and determined a shift of attitude not only in the medical specialists but also at political level.  The inefficiency or lack of some therapeutic or prophylactic methods with immediate application, the unpredictability that characterizes the spreading of these diseases, their severity (often unjustifiably exaggerated by the mass media) have nourished fears among the population, leading to the enforcement of quarantine measures to limit the disease, measures which have sometimes been less focused or not strong enough. In most cases, the idea of global security has prevailed over the right to free circulation, private ownership, or equal chances on the economic market. It is difficult to achieve a perfectly ethical division of resources allocated to fight infectious diseases in the current practice, but we must not overlook the fact that this has and will largely involve the socio-economically disadvantaged classes, while trying to limit the diseases strictly to a regional level only through administrative measures has proven, most often, to be a utopia. A stronger cooperation between healthcare specialists, on the one hand, and political factors and players in the pharmaceutical industry, on the other, may lead to a better management of these situations.