Ethics, global health and Zika virus infection: a view from Brazil
Abstract
The emergency of zika virus outbreak, the risk of presumed congenital syndrome zika and other events connected with the neurotropism of the virus, as well as unequal access to resources for diagnosis and health care to the affected present a scenario with several ethical concerns. This paper discusses three ethical issues related to the infection with Zika virus. The first refers to the relations between national states in a particular geopolitical context of "Public Health Emergency of International Concern". The second is the balance between individual freedom and rights and the need for State intervention. The third is the women's right to choose the abortion and the assistance for a legion of children with neuropathic syndromes and their families. To cope with a possible pandemic disease in a world without boundaries we should set up international teams in cooperatives bases, dealing with different cultural approaches upon the balance between individual and collective rights and the consequences to assistance and public policies.
