[A framework for evaluating ethical issues of public health initiatives: practical aspects and theoretical...

The "Framework for the Ethical Conduct of Public Health Initiatives", developed by Public Health Ontario, is a practical guide for assessing the ethical implications of evidence-generating public health initiatives, whether research or non-research activities, involving people, their biological materials or their personal information. The Framework is useful not only to those responsible for determining the ethical acceptability of an initiative, but also to investigators planning new public health initiatives. It is informed by a theoretical approach that draws on widely shared bioethical principles. Two considerations emerge from both the theoretical framework and its practical application: the line between practice and research is often blurred; public health ethics and biomedical research ethics are based on the same common heritage of values.