Facemask use for community protection from air pollution disasters: An ethical overview and framework to guide agency decision making

Fiona McDonald, Claire J. Horwell, Richard Wecker, Lena Dominelli, et. al.
01
February
2020
Output type
Location
Global
Focus areas
No items found.
Topics
No items found.
A woman wears a mask during the 2010 eruption of Merapi volcano. Only to be used alongside the project. (Square version)

Ethical values need to be considered as part of any decision-making process to assess the suitability of a public health intervention. In this paper, the authors use principles from public health ethics to analyse the critical ethical issues that relate to agencies providing advice on, recommending and/or distributing facemasks in air pollution disasters. This is important given a lack of evidence on both the specific risk of some polluting events or the effectiveness of facemasks in community settings.

This paper develops an ethical decision-making framework to assist agency deliberations. Clarity around decision-making by agencies, after using this framework, may help increase trust about the intervention and solidarity within and between populations affected by these disasters and the agencies who support public health or provide assistance during disasters.

Other resources

explore all resources
Final Report: Linking Interventions to Cultural Ceremonies and Practices to Reduce IPV Among Displaced Populations in Humanitarian Crises
Carers' perceptions of harm and the protective measures taken to safeguard children's health against inhalation of volcanic ash: A comparative study across Indonesia, Japan and Mexico
Case Studies: Understanding incontinence
No items found.
No items found.
Global
Global
Durham University