Indiana Health Officials To Examine State's Pandemic Influenza Ethics Planning

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 10 Jul 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Information relevant to Indiana's current pandemic influenza preparedness plan will be presented to health-care providers during a July 16 symposium convened by the Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana University Center for Bioethics.

"The Ethics of Pandemic Influenza Planning in Indiana: What Have We Done and Where Are We Going?" will be from 1 to 5 p.m. in the auditorium at the Indiana Government Center South, 402 W. Washington St.

This meeting will follow a two-day national summit in Indianapolis where state health officers and other senior public health officials from more than 30 states and U.S. territories will convene to identify key ethical challenges, best practices and possible solutions during an influenza pandemic. Both meetings were paid for with some of the ISDH's preparedness funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New data from a survey of public opinion regarding the ethics of pandemic influenza preparedness will be presented.

"The purpose of this meeting is to raise awareness about the ethical issues related to an influenza pandemic and give health-care providers and other stakeholders an opportunity to consider such issues as altered standards of patient care, patient triage, immunizations and workforce management challenges," said Deputy State Health Commissioner Mary Hill, R.N., Esq.

"Indiana has taken seriously the ethical issues involved in pandemic influenza planning, but the key to success is communicating these efforts effectively to the entire state. This day-long meeting is one opportunity to do just that," said Eric M. Meslin, Ph.D., director of the IU Center for Bioethics and a co-organizer of this symposium and the preceding national summit.

The July 16 symposium will conclude with a town hall public forum on pandemic influenza preparedness in Indiana from 4 to 5 p.m.

Speakers at the Indiana symposium will include Mary Hill; Eric M. Meslin; Eleanor D. Kinney, J.D., MPH, the Samuel R. Rosen Professor of Law at the Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis, and co-director of the Hall Center for Law and Health; James G. Wolf, M.A., director of the Survey Research Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; and Margaret G. Gaffney, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine at the IU School of Medicine and a faculty member at the IU Center for Bioethics.

For information on the national summit or pandemic influenza planning in Indiana, see http://www.bioethics.iu.edu/pandemic_portal.asp.

Indiana University Center for Bioethics