About Ethics
At FACE, we are reframing global health ethics as a pathway to impact and equity, moving beyond strictly academic or procedural assessments to provide pragmatic guidance on ethical approaches to solving complex global health problems.
Our Approach to Ethics
We are working to elevate and embed ethics in day-to-day public health practice through:
Convening
Gathering key stakeholders—from district health officers to industry scientists—to deliberate and co-develop solutions to tough challenges that threaten health equity
Consultation
Providing real-time guidance and support for public health practitioners and programs grappling with ethical questions and considerations
Research
Investigating new areas of ethical inquiry through grounded research methods and fieldwork.
Education & Training
Building capacity and skills among public health practitioners, enabling the workforce to discern how to overcome ethical challenges when they arise.
Ethical Action
We are deepening our understanding of ethical challenges in global health, developing tools and strategies to better support public health practitioners in their day-to-day work, and directly addressing injustice in global health.
Challenges such as:
Ethics Webinar Series
In 2023, we launched an Ethics Lunch and Learn Series at the Task Force for Global Health to spark discourse and awareness through the examination of provocative ethical questions and dilemmas in global health.
Click on our reports to learn more about important and evolving topics in global health ethics.
Stigma in Global Health
In our inaugural Lunch & Learn, we focused on stigma as a key ethical challenge in global health. Our colleagues at the Global Partnership for Zero Leprosy and Compassionate Atlanta shared their experiences with addressing stigma.
Challenging our Moral High Ground
In this session, we examined the intense online response to the protocol for the study, Preventing Infant Malnutrition with Early Supplementation (PRIMES), which involved formula supplementation in Africa, published in PLOS One. In this case, online commenters condemned the research, and accusations of unethical conduct spread quickly, spilling over into social media.
Evolving Partnerships
This Ethics Lunch & Learn was the first in our new four-part series on the core values of the Task Force.
In this session, we discussed the evolving nature of partnerships and our responsibility to respond to shifting needs and expectations. Colleagues from several Task Force programs shared their experiences, perspectives, and questions while exploring various themes including equity, sustainability, capacity exchange, shared commitments, and decolonization.
Good Stewardship
This Ethics Lunch & Learn was the second in our four-part series on the core values of The Task Force.
In this session, we discussed the meaning and responsibility of being good stewards. Colleagues from several Task Force programs and an external collaborator shared their experiences and perspectives.
Compassion and “Seeing the Faces”
This Ethics Lunch & Learn was the third in our four-part series on the core values of The Task Force.
In this session, we explored a moment of compassion experienced by Dr. Walter Orenstein that had long-term policy implications. Task Force staff also explored their own relationship to compassion in their work and the challenges in its enactment.
Health Equity and Social Justice
This Ethics Lunch & Learn was the last in our four-part series on the core values of The Task Force.
In this session, we explored how equity and justice are exemplified in current programmatic actions, and are being further explored in an organizational exercise focused on ‘decolonized’ practices.
Co-Design for Building Equitable Global Health Programs
This Ethics Lunch & Learn we learned about co-design methods used in global health spaces.
Co-design merges components of agile design thinking, rapid ethnography, and public health intervention design to center community-identified priorities.
This Lunch & Learn prepared staff for a three-part follow-up series thereafter.
Realist Co-Design
In the first workshop of the three-part co-design series, we discussed the purpose and process of co-design.
Identifying Co-Design Partners and Points of Entry
In the second workshop of the three-part co-design series, we discussed how to construct a strong co-design team, align partners, and define program areas for application.
Co-Designing for Sustainability
In the third workshop of the three-part co-design series, we discussed funding, measurement, and resources for implementing these methods.
Recent Publications and Reports
Stakholder Perspectives on Mass Drug Administration for Child Survival and Antimicrobial Stewardship: Locating Common Ground (2026)
Graham AL, Wilkers L, Metwally H, Addiss DG
What ethical challenges arise in global health programmes? A qualitative case study of global health programme leaders’ experiences (BMJ Open, 2025)
Grek M, Graham AL, Addiss DG, Lavery JV.
Cascading failures in COVID-19 vaccine equity (Science Magazine, 2023)
Lavery JV, Porter RM, Addiss DG.
“Ethics and Global Health Security,” Modernizing Global Health Security to Prevent, Detect, and Respond (Elsevier, 2023)
Kebede S, DeTora LM, Ekmekci PE, Wassie TA, Baer C, Addiss D, Crawley FP, Bierer BE.
Ethical challenges and moral distress among field epidemiologists (BMJ Public Health, 2022)
Emma Cooke, George Lopez, Angela Hilmers & David G. Addiss.