UWI Task Force members publish COVID-19 Ethics Handbook
for Caribbean Policy Makers
The UWI Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. Friday, July 31, 2020. —A handbook outlining ethical principles to guide the responses of Caribbean governments and policymakers in managing the COVID-19 pandemic is now available. It was authored by two members of The UWI COVID-19 Task Force.
Dr Anna Kasafi Perkins, an ethics specialist, together with Professor R. Clive Landis, a cardiovascular research expert—who chairs the COVID-19 Task Force—wrote the handbook aimed at helping decision-makers navigate the ethical dilemmas arising from the mix of medical, social, economic and other issues posed by COVID-19. The free eBook is entitled, Ethics Amidst COVID-19: A Brief Ethics Handbook for Caribbean Policymakers and Leaders. It is available for free download via The UWI COVID-19 Task Force website.
According to the authors, the book is divided into four parts, including an introduction with subsequent sections exploring relevant ethical principles. Real and adapted case studies are presented to further illustrate the application of key principles in what are often morally complex circumstances that cry out for careful judgement based on a principle-based approach. It also includes an extensive bibliography for further reading and consultation.
As members of The UWI COVID-19 Task Force, Dr Perkins and Professor Landis prepared the handbook as part of the regional University’s mandate to provide accurate and reliable information in the wake of the pandemic. They hope that it encourages ethical commitment and action among Caribbean decision-makers who bear different ethical burdens to those of the ordinary citizen, particularly in their responsibility to make rules and impose policies that affect the lives of entire nations and peoples.
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Access the free handbook, Ethics Amidst COVID-19: A Brief Ethics Handbook for Caribbean Policymakers and Leaders via https://uwi.edu/covid19/resources/resources-policymakers
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About The UWI
For over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); The UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies; the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ); The UWI-University of Havana Centre for Sustainable Development; The UWI-Coventry Institute for Industry-Academic Partnership with the University of Coventry and the Glasgow-Caribbean Centre for Development Research with the University of Glasgow.
The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport.
As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. The world’s most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, has ranked The UWI among the top 600 universities in the world for 2019 and 2020, and the 40 best universities in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2018, 2019 and 2020. The UWI has been the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.
(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)
