Re-illuminating Ethical Authority and Representativeness in Global Health Emergencies

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed a critical challenge in global health, while scientific and public health expertise played a central role in shaping responses, questions remain about who holds ethical authority, whose voices are represented, and how moral guidance is communicated during public health emergencies. 

This project explores the diverse sources of ethical authority and moral leadership that influence public understanding, trust, and decision-making in times of crisis. While governments, public health agencies, and international organisations are often seen as the primary sources of guidance, communities also look to religious leaders, community advocates, cultural organisations, social movements, support groups, and increasingly, social media figures for ethical and moral direction. 

Led by Dr Mehrunisha Suleman (University of Oxford) and Dr Zack Berger (Johns Hopkins University), the project seeks to better understand how different forms of ethical authority emerge, how they are perceived by the public, and how they can contribute to more effective and ethically grounded responses to future public health emergencies. 

The project will begin with a scoping review of existing literature on ethical guidance and moral authority in global health. Building on this work, the team will establish an international network of leaders drawn from diverse sectors and communities. Through consultation and deliberative exercises, the project will explore what ethical authority, moral leadership, and representativeness mean in practice, the challenges faced by different forms of leadership, and lessons learned from recent public health crises.