Reaching out to Ebola victims: Coercion, persuasion or an appeal for self-sacrifice?

摘要: The 2014-2015 Ebola crisis in West Africa has highlighted the practical limits of upholding human rights and common ethical principles when applying emergency public-health measures. role medical teams implementation quarantine isolation been equivocal, particularly such measures are opposed by communities who coerced temporary suspension civil liberties. In their encounters with victims, outreach face moral dilemmas, where boundaries unclear between coercion, persuasion appeals for self-sacrifice. For those teams, we propose a set recommendations aimed at respecting autonomy epidemic victims easing tensions within communities. We recognize that some these progressively achievable, depending on specific stage or setting an outbreak. Yet increasing availability experimental treatments research interventions, weighing patients' against good will become even more pressing obligation.