Given that at first, medical interventions, such as specific treatment and vaccines, may not be readily available, adoption of non-pharmaceutical public health interventions is key in countering and mitigating the effects of the pandemic. However, in the face of a public health threat, these rights and freedoms can be restricted, and it becomes a difficult task in striking a balance between existing individual rights and the public health threat. This then proves the importance of having in place articulate public health ethics that would inform this balance in the event of a pandemic. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is one of the instruments that protect and promote human rights internationally. The most relevant rights to the ethics of public health interventions are provided for in this declaration, which over time has attained customary international law status.

Source: The Star April 07, 2020 20:48 UTC