Mendoza V Carolina
Escuela de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Rev Med Chil. 2007 Nov;135(11):1487-93. Epub 2008 Jan 16.
Dental caries remains a worldwide public health problem because of its magnitude and impact on affected people's quality of life. Among preventive strategies, water fluoridation is one of the most important, but its value still remains uncertain after more than a half century of its use. The aim of this study is to analyse some of the ethical arguments for and against water fluoridation and to determine if empirical data allow to decide if there are correct policies from a bioethical perspective. Autonomy, compulsory medication (mass medication), precautionary principle, justice in health care and ethics of protection are discussed. It is concluded that fluoridation is beneficial and that there is no ethical reason to oppose it, based on a specific kind of ethics developed to analyse and clarify complex public health issues.
由于龋齿的规模及其对受影响人群生活质量的影响，它仍然是一个全球性的公共卫生问题。在预防策略中，水氟化是最重要的策略之一，但在其使用了半个多世纪后，其价值仍然不确定。本研究的目的是分析支持和反对水氟化的一些伦理观点，并确定实证数据是否能从生物伦理角度判断是否存在正确的政策。讨论了自主性、强制用药（群体用药）、预防原则、医疗保健中的公平性以及保护伦理。基于一种为分析和阐明复杂公共卫生问题而发展起来的特定伦理，得出的结论是，水氟化是有益的，并且没有伦理理由反对它。
