FIVE : Public health and regulatory issues Ethics

Vaccines present a spectrum of unique ethical considerations compared with those associated with other medical interventions. Central to these differences are the role of vaccines in disease prevention rather than treatment, the concurrent interest of vaccination policy in improving the health of communities and individual people, and the focus on children in many vaccination programs. Formal discussions of ethical issues related to vaccination were once concentrated largely on aspects of clinical research and specific topics regarding vaccine safety and financing. Recent events, such as the arrival of vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) and the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza pandemic, have demonstrated the need for a more comprehensive and proactive examination of vaccine ethics. Such an approach offers important insights into all aspects of the vaccine life cycle, from the earliest stages of research through deployment in national and global immunization programs.