Legal and Political Implications of a Pandemic and Biological Threats. Ethical Dilemmas in Disasters

摘要

The emergence of life-threatening infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), viral hemorrhagic fevers (e.g. Ebola and Marburg viral infections), the new resurgence in terrorism after September 11, 2001, and the threat of bio-terrorism, highlighted the urgent need for efficient control practices in health care. A dramatic increase in the need to develop countermeasures including civilian protection against bio-terrorism and emergency preparedness drive the policy-makers to develop new strategy and management guidelines. New codes in ethics and laws for bio-terrorism and disaster emergencies and related research have been improved over the last five years. Failure to apply infection control measures favors the spread of pathogens, and the health care setting can act as amplifiers of outbreaks, with an impact on both hospital and community health. The recent pandemics and environmental emergencies suggest that it is necessary to redefine the roles of states, municipalities, and nations under the principles of federalism and on the national and international levels in different countries. In the era of globalization and international laws the authors would highlight and focus the attention of the new International Health Regulations (IHR), put forward by the WHO, in which it is underlined the importance of human rights principles linked with the concept and need to balance the effective response to risk of diseases compared to fundamental individual freedoms. The authors would like to focus the attention on human rights from an international perspective in order to better understand the international point of view on this matter, concerning the legal and political implications of a pandemic or a biological threat, terrorism and counter-terrorism health consequences and related issues.