Working Group on Ethics and COVID-19
WHO has established an international Working Group on Ethics and COVID-19 in order to develop advice on key ethical questions that Member States need to address. The expert group also advises WHO’s technical units regarding ethical aspects of their COVID-related work.
Background and mission
WHO has established an international Working Group on Ethics and COVID-19 in order to develop advice on key ethical questions that Member States need to address. The expert group also advises WHO’s technical units regarding ethical aspects of their COVID-related work. Since its formation in February 2020, the group has been engaged in the following activities:
- Advice on ethical considerations in COVID-19 research
- Practical guidance on the application of ethical values central to COVID-19 research published in the journal “Public Health Ethics”
- A policy brief on resource allocation and priority setting in COVID-19 care
- Providing ethics input into the WHO's Clinical Management Guidelines and training
- Feedback provided on the Solidarity Trial protocol
- Development of emergency standard operating procedures for human research committees to facilitate rapid review of protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Advice on the criteria that must be satisfied for SARS-CoV-2 challenge studies to be ethically acceptable
- Considering other areas: Immunity certificates, MEURI (i.e., monitored emergency use of unregistered and experimental interventions) and the fair global allocation of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.
Publications
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28 May 2020
Ethical considerations to guide the use of digital proximity tracking technologies for COVID-19 contact...
Digital proximity tracking technologies have been identified as a potential tool to support contact tracing for COVID-19. However, these technologies raise...
28 May 2020
Guidance for research ethics committees for rapid review of research during public health emergencies
Conducting research on new medications or vaccines during a pandemic is essential, and research ethics committees need to be prepared to rapidly review...
The widespread use of safe and efficacious vaccines for COVID-19 could save many lives, prevent disease, and permit the safe relaxation of other public...