Book
Humanitarian ethics in Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders: Discussing dilemmas and mitigating moral distress
Philippe Calain
30.08.2018As a humanitarian medical organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) intervenes in places around the world affected by conflict and crisis. Although we are guided by humanitarian principles, our...
Article
Attacks on Hospitals: an Alarming Problem for Military Medicine as well as for Humanitarian Medicine
Philippe Calain
2017As part of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Additional Protocols I and II of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions and other treaties provide for the protection of patients, medical personnel and...
Article
The evolving role of CSR in international development: Evidence from Canadian extractive companies’ involvement in community health initiatives in low-income countries
Philippe Calain
2017Overseas development agencies and international finance organisations view the exploitation of minerals as a strategy for alleviating poverty in low-income countries. However, for local communities...
Article
Response to 'On Complicity and Compromise' by Chiara Lepora and Robert Goodin
Philippe Calain
2017Chiara Lepora and Robert Goodin invite us to join their insightful ‘conversation’ on complicity and compromise. Their book makes a dense, utterly precise and rewarding reading, as one proceeds...
Article
The Ebola clinical trials: a precedent for research ethics in disasters
Philippe Calain
2016The West African Ebola epidemic has set in motion a collective endeavour to conduct accelerated clinical trials, testing unproven but potentially lifesaving interventions in the course of a major...
Article
Defective interfering genomes and Ebola virus persistence
Philippe Calain
2016Michael Jacobs and colleagues (The Lancet, 2016, Vol. 388, p. 498-503) provide clinical and virological evidence of a relapse of Ebola virus disease (EVD) presenting as acute meningo-encephalitis 9...
Article
Reaching out to Ebola victims: Coercion, persuasion or an appeal for self-sacrifice?
Marc Poncin, Philippe Calain
2015The 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. The role...
Article
Coincident polio and Ebola crises expose similar fault lines in the current global health regime
Caroline Abu-Sada, Philippe Calain
2015In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared two "public health emergencies of international concern", in response to the worldwide polio situation and the Ebola epidemic in West Africa...
Article
Counterterrorism policies and practices: health and values at stake
Philippe Calain
2015The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) used a fake vaccination programme to obtain DNA samples in the search for Osama Bin Laden, which caused distrust and hampered polio eradication and ...
Article
Extractive resources and the Ebola economy
Philippe Calain
2015Letter about extractive resources and Ebola, a response to the recent briefing by Wilkinson and Leach “Briefing: Ebola–myths, realities, and structural violence” published in African Affairs.
Article
Understanding Power Relationships: Commentary on Wurr C and Cooney L (2014) 'Ethical Dilemmas in Population-Level Treatment of Lead Poisoning in Zamfara State, Nigeria'
Philippe Calain
2014After 4 years of relief activities, it is difficult to keep managing the lead poisoning epidemic in northern Nigeria as an emergency situation, while it appears clearly to be a more complex,...
Article
The interaction between humanitarian non-governmental organisations and extractive industries: a perspective from Médecins Sans Frontières
Philippe Calain
29.10.2013This opinion note explores some aspects of the relationship between humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and extractive industries. Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders,...