U Laaser

Towards a Code of Conduct for the European Public Health Profession

Professionalization of public health is important to advance public health education, training, and practice. In our opinion, there is no contradiction that the profession of public health consists of members of different other professions – which also have their own values and conducts. Yet, if professions work under the roof of public health, the pillars – the core values – of the house that is built are the common denominators. Making the guiding norms and values explicit is important for the self-definition of the professional field/profession and giving guidance in pursuing a fair and respectful improvement of population health.

A code of ethical conduct for the public health profession

Aim: Agreeing on a Code of Ethical Conduct is an essential step in the formation and definition of a public health profession in its own right. In this paper we attempt to identify a limited number of key ethical principles to be reflected as professional guidance. Methods: We used a consensus building approach based on narrative review of pivotal literature and theoretical argumentation in search for corresponding terms and - in a second step - attempted to align them to a limited number of key values. The resulting draft code of ethical conduct was validated employing a framework of the Council of Europe and reviewed in two quasi Delphi rounds by members of a global think tank. Results: The alignment exercise demonstrated the acceptability of five preselected key principles: solidarity, equity, efficiency, respect for autonomy, and justice whereas three additional principles were identified during the discussion rounds: common good, stewardship, and keeping promises. Conclusions: In the context of emerging and re-emerging diseases as well as increase in lifestyle-related diseases, the proposed Code of Ethical Conduct may serve as a mirror which public health professionals will use to design and implement public health interventions. Future public health professional chambers or an analogous structure should become responsible for the acknowledgement and enforcement of the Code.

Growing up the South Eastern European Journal of Public Health

1 School of Public Health, University of Medicine, Tirana, Albania; 2 Department of International Health, School for Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands; 3 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany; 4 Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Valencia, Spain; 5 INCLIVA Research Institute, University of Valencia Clinical Hospital, Valencia, Spain; 6 Faculty of Human and Health Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.