Preamble
The Mission of the Northwestern Health Unit is to encourage healthy behaviours by promoting and protecting conditions in which all people can achieve an optimal level of health.
This code of ethics states key principles of the ethical practice of Public Health. An accompanying statement lists the key values and beliefs inherent to a Public Health perspective upon which the ethical principles are based. Public Health is understood within this code as what we, as a society, do collectively to assure the conditions for people to be healthy.
We affirm the World Health Organization's understanding of health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease.
We also affirm the World Health Organization, Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion – determinants of health and health promotion actions, 1986. Health promotion actions are based on building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community action, developing personal skills, and reorienting health services.
The code is neither a new nor an exhaustive system of health ethics. Rather, it highlights the ethical principles that follow from the distinctive characteristics of Public Health. A key belief worth highlighting, and which underlies several of the ethical principles, is the interdependence of people. This interdependence is the essence of community. Public Health not only seeks the health of whole communities but also recognizes that the health of individuals is tied to their life in the community.
The code is intended principally for Northwestern Health Unit programs. We commit to sharing this code with partner organizations in the Kenora-Rainy River District that have an explicit Public Health mission. Institutions and individuals that are outside traditional Public Health but recognize the effects of their work on the health of the community may also find the code relevant and useful.
Values and Beliefs Underlying the Code The following values and beliefs are fundamental to and underlie the 12 principles of the ethical practice of Public Health.
- Acceptance and acknowledgement of the World Health Organization’s determinants of health (peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable ecosystem, sustainable resources, social justice, equity).
- The way in which a society is structured is reflected in the health of a community.
- All people have a right to the resources necessary for health.
- All people are inherently social and interdependent; individual needs must balance with those of the community.
- Public trust is fostered through communication, truth telling, transparency, accountability, reliability, and reciprocity.
- Collaboration is a key element to Public Health services.
- All people and their physical environment are interdependent; a stable ecosystem and sustainable resources are essential to health and rely upon a respectful, dynamic relationship which balances the needs of individuals with their physical environment.
- There is opportunity for each person in the community to express an opinion and that opinion is valued.
- Knowledge is important and powerful.
- Science is the basis for much of our Public Health knowledge and upholds best practice, research, and evaluation.
- Knowledge compels responsible, timely action.
- In the absence of information, values guide action.
Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health
- Public Health addresses principally health protection and promotion using fundamental determinants for health to prevent adverse health outcomes.
- Public Health achieves community health in a way that respects the rights of all individuals in the community.
- Public Health policies, programs, and priorities are developed and evaluated through processes that ensure opportunity for participation of community members.
- Public Health advocates and works for the empowerment of all community members, aiming to ensure that the basic resources and conditions necessary for health are accessible to all.
- Public Health seeks the information needed to implement effective policies and programs that protect and promote health.
- Public Health agencies provide communities with the information that is needed for decisions on Public Health-related policies or programs and include consultation with the community as a whole in program implementation.
- Public Health agencies act in a timely manner on available information they have within the resources and the mandate given to them by the public.
- Public Health programs and policies incorporate a variety of approaches that anticipate and respect diverse values, beliefs, and cultures in the community.
- Public Health programs and policies are implemented in a manner that most enhances the fundamental determinants of health.
- Public Health agencies protect the confidentiality of information that can bring harm to an individual or community if made public. Exceptions must be justified on the basis of legislation or the high likelihood of significant harm to the individual or others.
- Public Health agencies ensure the professional competence of their employees.
- Public Health agencies and their employees engage in collaborations and affiliations in ways that build the public's trust and the agencies’ effectiveness.
Adapted from the American Public Health Association Code of Ethics, 2002