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Although epidemiology purports to be the morally neutral scientific arm of public health, it is obvious that bioethics must be involved in assessing the social relevance of epidemiological studies. Too much research funding goes to the study of diseases that constitute a less severe disease burden than the neglected diseases that are endemic in poorer countries—90:10 gap—with deprived populations plagued by high infant mortality rates, chronic weakness, and life expectancy that is less than half what members of affluent societies enjoy. Furthermore, epidemiological research must abide by the already well-established ethical surveillance applied to clinical trials, in addition to special concerns due to population research, like data-base confidentiality, postresearch benefits to host communities, safeguards against commercial use of population genomics.Ethical concerns also apply to the intricate translational processes that intermediate between basic epidemiological research and the final issuance of public health policies and interventions. Such complex interactions may fall under the influence of experts, interest lobbyists and vote-mongering politicians, leading to top-down decisions that disregard the upstream opinion of a citizenry that is being deprived of its right to deliberate and participate in public policy matters of social concern.

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-2026-2_10

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