Global, regional and local ecological change: Ethical aspects of public health research and practice

This chapter addresses the public health dimensions of global, regional and local ecological change, the unfamiliar reader justifiably may ponder the relevance and, indeed, appropriate place of ethics in the research and practice domains of public health. Further to the modern definition of epidemiology that includes the control of disease in populations, Sir Austin Bradford concluded that 'All scientific work is incomplete whether it be observational or experimental. The chapter describes that the more upstream determinants of, among others, energy, social, political or economic policy falling under the general rubric of 'global ecological change' also can fall under the purview of epidemiology, which sub-specialty would best be termed eco-epidemiology. It focuses on the ethical imperative of epidemiologists to see as a legitimate area of investigation the application of their skills to prevent harms from ecological change. The chapter understands the ethical imperative for epidemiologists to include local, regional and global environmental change under their purview as legitimate field of enquiry.