Building ethics capacity

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, WHO is focusing on improving ethics preparedness by capturing lessons learned and continuing to scope and review key ethical issues in terms of identifying high priority and neglected areas.

WHO’s dissemination and outreach activities also concentrate on country support and capacity building. One example of this is the establishment of the Public Health Emergency preparedness and Response Ethics Network (PHEPREN). Led by WHO and supported by key partners including the Fogarty International Center, Global Forum on Bioethics in Research, Global Health Network, Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres and Wellcome,  PHEPREN is a global community of bioethicists building on expertise and resources to provide real-time, trusted, contextual support to communities, policymakers, researchers, and responders in relation to the ethical issues arising out of global health emergencies.

On its website, Epidemics Ethics, PHEPREN hosts a database of resources on ethics and infectious disease outbreaks to facilitate research and the exchange of ideas. It also has regular webinars on emerging and pressing issues such as vaccine allocation, adaptive trial designs, data sharing, research in pregnancy, publication ethics, community engagement, and immunity certificates. These are designed to bring the global ethics community together, stimulate discussion, increase awareness and mentor those new to the field.

Ethics & Governance Unit
Research for Health Department
Division of the Chief Scientist 
World Health Organization
20, Avenue Appia
CH-1211 Genève 27
Switzerland ct_ethics@who.int