Public Health and Individual Choice

Public health has been described as ‘what we, as a society, collectively do to assure the conditions for people to be healthy’. But what are the responsibilities of governments, individuals and others such as the media in achieving this? Following on from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics report on public health, we will consider three examples of the ethical dilemmas raised by public health: vaccinations, obesity and alcohol.

Could the vaccination of children against the wishes of their parents ever be justified? Talk about the pros and cons of public vaccination programmes for different diseases with Andrew Hall, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation.

Who is responsible for the rise in obesity? Parents, schools or the government? Or are we just consuming more because it’s available? Discuss your opinions with Andrew Jones from the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia.

Should people be allowed to drink themselves to death if they want to? Or should the drinks industries be subjected to stricter regulatory controls? Examine alcoholism v. binge drinking with Rachel Seabrook, research manager of the Institute of Alcohol Studies.

This event responds to the publication of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics public health report.

Event organised by:
The Science Museum

Speakers

Rachel Seabrook, Research Manager, Institute of Alcohol Studies
Andrew Hall, Professor of Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Andrew Jones, Professor of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia

Facilitator: Hugh Whittall, Director, Nuffield Council on Bioethics