Ethical discussion on criteria for policy makers in public health authorities for preventative measures against a pandemic caused by a novel influenza a virus

Federal and regional authorities are currently preparing for a possible influenza pandemic caused by a new human influenza virus subtype. Ethical discussions in the context of such a pandemic were not systematically held within the Public Health scientific community in Germany as yet. This deficit is being approached by the authors. They plea for a systematic conception of a Public Health Ethics framework. Normative benchmarks can be set within such a framework that are more adequate for the discussion than the traditional ethical principles used within medical ethics. Public Health Ethics is an applied ethics that can be utilised for Public Health scientists and policy makers to give them advice and counsel them for a morally acceptable public health practice. The authors present a concise set of ethical principles that are applied in this article to the challenges of an influenza pandemic.