PHM-Exch> Confict of Interest in Public Health Policy Making

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Leslie London <leslie.london at uct.ac.za>


 The full article is Open Access (you may need to register) at URL
http://www.sajbl.org.za/index.php/sajbl/article/view/234



ABSTRACT

L London, R Matzopoulos, J Corrigall, J E Myers, A Maker, C D H Parry.
 *Conflict
of interest: A tenacious ethical dilemma in public health policy, not only
in clinical practice/research.* South Africa Journal of Bioethics and Law
2012; 102 (5): 102-108.



In addition to the ethical practice of individual health professionals,
bioethical debate about conflict of interest (CoI) must include the
institutional ethics of public policy-making, as failure to establish
independence from powerful stakeholder influence may pervert public health
goals. All involved in public policy processes are accountable for CoI,
including experts, scientists, professionals, industry and government
officials. The liquor industry in South Africa is presented as a case
study. Generic principles of how to identify, manage and address CoI are
discussed. We propose that health professionals and policy makers should
avoid partnering with industries that are harmful to health. Regarding
institutional CoI, *we recommend that there should be effective policies,
procedures and processes for governing public-private joint ventures with
such industries. These include arms-length funding, maintaining the balance
between contesting vested interests, and full disclosure of the identity
and affiliations of all participants in structures and reports pertaining
to public policy-making.*




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