Seite - 254 - in VULNERABLE - The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
Bild der Seite - 254 -
Text der Seite - 254 -
VULNERABLE254
duce surrogate testing of blood donations for hepatitis C, Justice
Krever stated: “The safety of the blood supply is an aspect of public
health, and, therefore, the blood supply system must be governed by
the public health philosophy, which rejects the view that complete
knowledge of a public health hazard is a prerequisite for action.”15
However, the application of precautions to public health has
been problematic, as the reflexive application of precautions to pre-
vent one health risk can cause another health risk. For example, ban-
ning the use of lower-dose DDT for malaria prevention in Africa
because of bioaccumulation concerns related to high-dose agricultural
use in North America has led to malaria outbreaks. This dilemma has
been all too evident with COVID-19: precautionary measures such as
physical distancing are criticized for their accompanying risks, both
to the economy and to public health, particularly to the most vulner-
able, and to the risk of deepening social inequalities. Critics argue that
the rational path forward is to attend, as best we can, to the risks on
all sides rather than take refuge in a principle that reflexively favours
precautionary measures. Some argue that we should move from pre-
caution to risk—risk analyses in these scenarios.16
Given these challenges, the EU has provided more modern
guidance, clarifying that the application of the precautionary prin-
ciple should be:
• proportional to the chosen level of protection;
• non-discriminatory;
• consistent with similar measures already taken;
• basedÂ
onÂ
anÂ
examinationÂ
ofÂ
theÂ
potentialÂ
benefitsÂ
andÂ
costs of action
or lack of action (including, where appropriate and feasible,
an economic cost/benefit analysis);
• subject to review, in the light of new scientific data; and
• capable of assigning responsibility for producing the scientific evi-
dence necessary for a more comprehensive risk assessment.
In assessing any emerging threat, one must be cognizant that these
are scientifically and socially dynamic situations with emerging evi-
dence continually altering the level of uncertainty. This has been
true of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the outset, with little known
15. Ibid at 1049.
16. Indur Goklany, “From Precautionary Principle to Risk—Risk Analysis” (2002)
20:11 Nature Biotechnology 1075.
VULNERABLE
The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Titel
- VULNERABLE
- Untertitel
- The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19
- Autoren
- Vanessa MacDonnell
- Jane Philpott
- Sophie Thériault
- Sridhar Venkatapuram
- Verlag
- Ottawa Press
- Datum
- 2020
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- ISBN
- 9780776636429
- Abmessungen
- 15.2 x 22.8 cm
- Seiten
- 648
- Kategorien
- Coronavirus
- International