Public health and bioethics: An interdisciplinary approach

Abstract

Public health is often thought of as a field focused exclusively on creating policies and implementing interventions. While this may appear to be true, this reductionist view of public health ignores the ethical bedrock that public health is founded upon. Bioethics, when considered alongside public health, can bridge this gap and bring the ethical foundation of public health to the forefront. It is important to recognize that ethical discussions have influenced public health throughout history. Acknowledging this history and accepting the need to evaluate the ethics of emerging issues in medicine will help guide public health in the future.