APG5081 - Public health ethics - 2018

This unit provides broad coverage of public health ethics, which has been one of the fastest growing subdisciplines of bioethics during the 21st century. Following philosophical analysis of the concept and goals of public health, it examines ethical issues associated with health promotion, obesity, tobacco, vaccination policy, pandemics and other public health emergencies, global justice and access to medicines, social determinants of health, public health research and surveillance, and 'nudge' interventions.

1. To obtain familiarity with ethical issues arising in public health practice and policy making;
2. To understand the ethical frameworks and principles specific to public health practice and policy making;
3. To be able to use public health ethics frameworks and principles to arrive at well-argued conclusions about particular dilemmas in public health practice and policy making;
4. To be able to critically engage with the public health ethics literature and construct arguments for novel conclusions in relation to that literature.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 288 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Bioethics