[The bioethics of protection and the state's role: moral problems in unequal access to drinking water]

The aim of this study is to examine unequal access to drinking water as a public health problem in terms of normative and analytical tools in the bioethics of protection. Therefore, we analyze both the moral implications of unequal treatment of primary needs, such as situations of vulnerability and threat to population groups, and the public sector's responsibility in supplying safe water. In addition, solutions are proposed for the protection of public health and the promotion of legitimate personal development projects. The bioethics of protection reaffirms the state's role in maintaining the drinking water supply and recommends avoiding a policy of privatization of this public good, meanwhile justifying public policies to correct situations of social injustice.