In March 2021, the Forum for Global Health Ethics, the Swiss Medical Weekly, and The Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences-Argentina, jointly organised the online Forum on Equitable Access to Covid-19 Vaccines. In this event, experts Arthur Caplan, Heidi Larson, Florencia Luna, Keymanthri Moodley, Rino Rappuoli and Jan Helge Solbakk, presented their positions on equitable access, engaged in a discussion and answered questions from the audience.

Watch short videos with each presentation and the discussion here.
Read a summary of the main issues discussed in the event here (PDF, 832 KB).

 

In December 2020, the Forum for Global Health Ethics and the Swiss Medical Weekly organised the online Forum on Ethics and Self-Experimentation in Times of Covid-19. Our guests were Preston Estep, Rebecca Dresser, Peter Kleist and Samia Hurst-Majno.

Watch the Forum on Ethics and Self-Experimentation in Times of Covid-19 here.

 

Publications on the occasion of these events: 

"Going first: the ethics of vaccine self-experimentation in coronavirus times" 

"A matter of priority: equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines"

The Forum for Global Health Ethics is a community of practitioners, researchers, students and policy-makers who collaborate and discuss cases in the field of global health that pose ethical challenges. The Forum is hosted and coordinated by the Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine (IBME) at the University of Zurich. This initiative is aligned with the WHO’s efforts to find collaborative solutions to global health challenges, and responds to its call for solidarity and international cooperation.

The spread of infectious diseases, the allocation of limited healthcare resources, human exposure to contamination, universal health coverage, access to vaccines and medicines, the implementation of new technologies in healthcare, and public trust in medicine, are classic examples of global health topics. Global health focuses on healthcare issues that transcend national borders and on global determinants of health.

Our aim is to exchange ideas and share knowledge among the global health ethics community. Specifically, we:

• Gather and examine cases that are ethically challenging in global health
• Enable a space for case-centred reflections and discussions
• Provide insights from ethicists 
• Facilitate networking among the global health ethics community
• Share knowledge on global health ethics

We collect real-world cases involving ethical challenges in any global health topic. The cases are gathered in thematic discussion rooms where discussants reflect on the cases and share their views. One ethicist participates in each discussion room, providing expert knowledge on the matter and exploring guidance for action.

Healthcare practitioners, researchers, students and policy-makers with an interest in the fields of global health and ethics. We welcome participants from all backgrounds, disciplines and regions of the world.