Question

d) Do citizens have obligations toward health-care professionals who put themselves at risk to treat them during outbreaks of highly hazardous communicable diseases? If so, what are these obligations, and what are their limits? If not, why not? Provide justification for your reasoning and apply at least one ethical principle from the course to support your point. Describe the principle(s) as well as the answer that it would lead to in this case.

Answer 1

Citizens' obligations in protecting health care professionals:

Citizens /Public do have the obligations or responsibility towards Health care professionals, who treat them during highly hazardous communicable diseases. The obligations are not necessarily on a legal basis or Professional ethical basis but on the moral basis. As the Healthcare professionals also the citizens of the country or the co-habitants in the society, each individual in the community , especially who comes in contact with the Healthcare professionals; Doctors, nurses or laboratory personnels or pharmacists etc,has the responsibility or obligation towards them to protect them from contracting the diseases. For example: The patients has to cover their mouth and nose while sneezing and coughing in front of a Health care professional or any other people in the society, is became a moral obligation especially in this pandemic situation of COVID 19.

If a person is not revealing his COVID 19 or HIV positive status to a Health care professionals, even after knowing it , is making the Doctor or nurse in high risk for getting the diseases. This act is the violation of moral obligations. As a citizen, he has the responsibility and social obligations to protect the society , including other people and health care professionals , from hazardous infectious diseases by keeping the basic precautions or universal precautions, observing quarantine or social distance etc. Informing the Healthcare professionals about a positive status ( HIV or Hepatitis B or COVID 19) helps them to take necessary precautions while administer the drugs , Venipuncture, wound dressing etc.

There are limitations like no legal standards or written law is there regarding the citizens obligations towards Healthcare professionals to protect them from hazardous infectious diseases. But based on the moral basics , each individual in the society has the moral obligations to protect others from getting the diseases.

Ethical principles , Beneficience and Non maleficence are supporting these obligations. 'Beneficience' principle emphasise that 'Do good to others' and the principle ' Non-maleficence ' emphasise that ' Do no harm' to others. Not only ethical principles but moral principle like ' love your neighbour as yourself ' ( biblical concept), also support the obligations of citizens to protect the Health care professionals from dangers of the infectious diseases that the patient have. If a person , who have the concern on others , may have the burden to keep them form spreading the infectious diseases to other human beings including Health care professionals.