Ethics in Public Health Informatics

According to UN’s Universal Declaration, human right recognizes individual’s intrinsic freedom, pride and equality. Human right serves as the foundational requirements for civic, political, and legal freedoms that uphold human dignity. Ethical complexities can diminish organization’s and individual’s rights. Therefore, it is vital to address ethical dilemmas during the development as well as deployment of new technologies. The misuse or excessive reliance on technology can lead to detrimental consequences. The use of e-Health systems often presents ethical dilemmas, including concerns about privacy, confidentiality, dignity, security, and safety of personal information. During the development and implementation of e-Health technologies, it is vital to uphold ethical values such as respect for life, the intention of doing good, the avoidance of harm, and the pursuit of justice. The code of ethics should adhere to the fundamental ethical principles. Ensuring ethical considerations is particularly challenging in resource-limited settings. In this chapter, we discussed the fundamental ethical principles, ethical dilemmas related to public health informatics, and strategies to improve privacy, access, security, accountability, and integrity in the area of public health informatics.