WiP: Discrimination and aiming for overall well-being in healthcare

Title: Discrimination and aiming for overall well-being in healthcare
Speaker: Aksel Sterri

Date: Wednesday 25 May, 2.30 p.m.– 3.30 p.m. BST
Venue: Seminar Area, Littlegate House (Zoom possible, please email Miriam.wood@philosophy.ox.ac.uk to arrange)
Booking: not required, this internal talk is for Oxford Uehiro Centre members and associates.

Abstract: In practice and in the philosophical literature on health priorities, the standard view is to ignore the third party and non-medical effects when allocating scarce healthcare resources. In this paper, we argue against this exclusionary view and propose an inclusive view instead. We argue that, in principle, every foreseeable effect of a decision should matter when prioritising healthcare resources. We thus propose widening the scope of attention from patients qua patients to everyone affected by the allocation of healthcare resources. We defend the inclusive view against objections that it is discriminatory and unfair.

Bio: Aksel Sterri’s research interests are at the intersection of ethics and economics. The focus of his post-doctoral work (funded by the Norwegian Research Council) is on ethical aspects of contagion, both in relation to infectious and non-communicable diseases.