IDE7101: Global Health Ethics

This is a key course that is central to research in both routine and emergency setting research. It equips the student with skills and competencies, in the first place, in ethical reasoning and the requisite professional practice in identifying, plan for response and eventually respond with applicable integrity to research, in various socioeconomic, political and cultural settings. It states importance of adhering to the set and universally acceptable ethical principles and guidelines. Moreover, it promotes a two-way researcher respondent/community accountability for the research being undertaken. In the second place, it builds up on competences for evaluation of health equity and social justice with output skills on analysis of strategies to address health disparities across socially, demographically, or geographically defined populations. 
 
Aim 

This course will equip a student with skills on global health ethics reasoning and competences evaluation of health equity and social justice during the conduct and dissemination of research. 
 
Course objectives 
By the end of this course, the student will be able to: 

• Develop and refine skills and competencies in global health ethics. 
• Develop and refine competencies for analysis of individual ethical case scenarios. 
• Make informed and reasoned judgments about the proper conduct of scientific research in various research settings. 
• Improve the student’s research and writing through independent examination of key ethical theories, policies, and regulations. 

 
Expected course outcome 
Application of core aspects of global health ethics, especially: 

• Apply the fundamental principles of international standards for the protection of human subjects in diverse cultural settings. 
• Analyse ethical and professional issues that arise in responding to public health emergencies. 
• Apply social justice and human rights principles in public health policies and programs. 
• Cite strengths and weaknesses of ethical theories, policies, and regulations.