Ethical, legal, and social benchmarks for transition strategies

Executive summary

Based on the Toronto framework developed following the SARS epidemic, as well as on the main ethical, legal, and social issues identified by the ELSI group, the main benchmarks for transition strategies are the protection of personal rights, the protection of the public from harm, equity and solidarity, principles of the rule of law, and trustworthiness and communication.

Based on this approach, recommended benchmarks for transition strategies are: ongoing examination of the available data, including information on the socio-economic profile of new cases and deaths; a reporting system to observe the effects of the pandemic and of pandemic response policies on different populations; mechanisms for dispute resolution and rights of appeal for all restrictive measures; financial provisions and support services for those affected by restrictive measures, and for those whose work places them in the way of harm for the public good; efforts to mainstream advance care planning; measures to actively avoid direct and indirect discrimination in restrictive measures, their withdrawal, and possible reimplementation; protection of the right to an education; integration of democracy and federalism in transition scenarios; procedural guarantees and appropriate legal bases for limitations of personal rights; and a commitment to public information and trustworthiness.