Conceptualizing the Impact of MDRO Control Measures Directed at Carriers: A Capability Approach

Morten Byskov, Babette Rump, Marcel Verweij

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Many countries have implemented specific control measures directed at carriers of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) in order to prevent further introduction and transmission of resistant organisms into hospitals and other healthcare related settings. These control measures may in many ways affect the lives and well-being of carriers of MDRO, resulting in complex ethical dilemmas that often remain largely implicit in practice. In this chapter, we propose to conceptualize the impact of MDRO control measures on the well-being of individual carriers in terms of capabilities and functionings. A capabilitarian framework for the ethical treatment of MDRO carriers commits us to conceptualize the harm done to carriers in terms of the impact that MDRO control measures have on what they are able to do or be. Adopting and adapting Nussbaum’s list of ten central human capabilities, we present a taxonomy of capabilities and functionings that are normatively relevant for the design and evaluation of MDRO control measures.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication Ethics and Drug Resistance: Collective Responsibility for Global Public Health
EditorsE. Jamrozik, M. Selgelid
PublisherSpringer
Chapter13
Pages203-224
ISBN (Electronic)9783030278748
ISBN (Print)9783030278731
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Oct 2020

Publication series

NameEthics and Drug Resistance: Collective Responsibility for Global Public Health
Volume5
ISSN (Print)2211-6680
ISSN (Electronic)2211-6699

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