COVID-19 presented major challenges to ethics of public health and politics
A vital part of a university's mission involves addressing the challenges currently facing humankind. Some of these challenges stem from the actions of humans themselves, while others have their roots in the natural world and the complex realities of diseases and the way we fight them. The Strategy of the University of Iceland asserts that knowledge creation at the University helps our society address a wide range of challenges, including climate change, natural hazards, rapid technological advancements and a variety of threats to human health and well-being.
Vilhjálmur Árnason, professor of philosophy at UI, has spent the majority of his career taking on these kinds of challenges. In his research, he has primarily focused on the fields of ethics and existentialism, as well as social and political philosophy. Vilhjálmur has frequently directed his attention to bioethics and public health ethics and has published a lot of material related to these topics.
Recently, Vilhjálmur has been focused on the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it had on the ethics of politics and public health.
"I am focusing in particular on the situation and response in Iceland, but I analyse them in the context of international discourse," says Vilhjálmur, whose project looked at the ethical questions raised by the pandemic itself as well as the way the government and the public responded.
A pandemic that cost millions of lives
The inspiration behind this research is obvious – the project is about the serious recent pandemic that has cost millions of lives. At the time of writing this article, around 621 million people have been infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and the global death toll is around 6.5 million. This is a scenario that few people foresaw in the 21st century, but the fact is that our changing lifestyles can create circumstances that are conducive to pandemics like this.
"I chose this subject because the pandemic and the response raised many ethical questions. The topic also relates to one of my previous areas of research, bioethics and public health ethics."
The project uses the methodology of philosophical ethics, with an emphasis on analysing concepts, reasoning, and procedures. Vilhjálmur will evaluate the decisions that were made and the reasoning behind them in the context of ideas and theories of bioethics, in particular public health ethics.
"In broad terms, we can say that the measures taken by the Icelandic government stand up very well to scrutiny based on these theories and the main criteria of public health ethics. Through an honest dialogue with the public and generally well-reasoned measures, the government established a relationship of trust and solidarity with the public. When evaluating the effectiveness of measures, though, it is not enough to measure the overall consequences. You also need to think in particular about the impact on vulnerable groups, such as children and disabled people, and learn from that," says Vilhjálmur.
Lessons can be used to re-evaluate emergency response plans
"A draft of the findings of my analyses based on two different theories is complete. The first analysis is based on David Miller's theory about good political decisions and the other on Norman Daniels and James Sabine's criteria for judging the justice of public health measures," explains Vilhjálmur.
"In broad terms, we can say that the measures taken by the Icelandic government stand up very well to scrutiny based on these theories and the main criteria of public health ethics. Through an honest dialogue with the public and generally well-reasoned measures, the government established a relationship of trust and solidarity with the public. When evaluating the effectiveness of measures, though, it is not enough to measure the overall consequences. You also need to think in particular about the impact on vulnerable groups, such as children and disabled people, and learn from that. The close collaboration between the government and deCODE genetics was effective, but also raises questions about transparency and democratic procedures that demand closer scrutiny.
The findings of the project have been presented at conferences and symposiums, both in Iceland and abroad. I am now working on the third edition of my book Siðfræði lífs og dauða. Erfiðar ákvarðanir í heilbrigðisþjónustu [The Ethics of Life and Death: Difficult Decisions in the Healthcare Services], which discusses the findings of this research."
Innovation is one of the most important forces for positive social change and there is a lot of emphasis on innovation in the Strategy of UI. The definition of innovation can include improvements to methods and procedures, which means that Vilhjálmur's project does have an aspect of innovation in considering infection control measures and public health from an ethical perspective.
The societal impact and scientific value of his research are based on the lessons that can be learned from his analysis of the pandemic response: where it was successful and where there was room for improvement from the perspective of public health ethics.
"These lessons could be used to review emergency response plans for pandemics of this kind."
Directly connected to the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Vilhjálmur's research is also directly connected to two of the SDGs. "There are clear links to Goal 3, good health and well-being, as well as Goal 10, reduced inequalities," says Vilhjálmur. "The pandemic unequivocally highlighted the importance of reducing inequality, so that infection prevention measures are fair."
Vilhjálmur Árnason is a UI academic who has made frequent media appearances to interpret a wide range of topical issues. He has a long and illustrious career in teaching and research. Vilhjálmur was born in Neskaupstaður in 1953 and completed his matriculation examination from Menntaskólinn á Laugarvatni. As an undergraduate, he studied philosophy and literature at UI, before going on to postgraduate studies at Purdue University, completing a doctorate in philosophy in 1982. Vilhjálmur has held a teaching and research position at the University of Iceland since 1983. He argues that his research is highly significant, both in terms of collecting new knowledge and also creating the conditions needed to improve human society. This brings to mind the words of the poet and scientist Jónas Hallgrímsson, who wrote that science furthers all great deeds (vísindin efla alla dáð).
