The ethics of a pandemic - hindsight and foresight

Description

The pandemic forced societies to make difficult decisions and choices. Many countries shut down large parts of society and restricted the movement of their citizens. Sweden, on the other hand, took a softer approach based on voluntary measures and individual responsibility, and recommendations rather than far-reaching mandates. The Swedish strategy also stood out in other respects; for example, unlike many other countries, we kept our compulsory schools open.

The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics has invited experts from a number of countries to take part in this year’s Ethics Day and discuss lessons learned from the pandemic to prepare us for future crises.

The seminar will focus on issues concerning ethics, knowledge and decision-making during the pandemic, and discuss questions such as:

What do we do when we lack the science and best practices?
How do knowledge gaps affect our decision-making?
What role can ethical frameworks and ethical analysis play in decision-making during a pandemic? What can we learn from the pandemic to ensure that, next time round, we use the responses that were effective this time and avoid those that weren’t?
How did Sweden and other countries deal with the many difficult ethical choices that we faced during the COVID-19 pandemic?
How were the ethical dilemmas that were highlighted by different decision-makers dealt with? Was ethical expertise included in the decision-making process?

Period	2022 Dec 8
Event type	Conference
Location	Stockholm, SwedenShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International