Ethics, Policy and Practice of Poliomyelitis Vaccination in Orissa: A case study in community, professional and governmental attitudes to mass public health programmes in India. (360G-Wellcome-096529_Z_11_Z)

This interdisciplinary project brings together two experienced academics from different disciplines (history and philosophy) to work together on a project that naturally develops out of their individual past interests. It has three key aims. First, to gather relevant empirical evidence about attitudes to poliomyelitis vaccination campaigns in Orissa from three key participant groups: parents, community workers and those involved in the planning and implementation of the campaign (e.g. government officials). Second, to outlineand systematically explore the ethical issues that will arise in relation to the empirical material gathered as part of this project. Third, to develop research capacity in ethics, particularly public health ethics, in a state in India (Orissa) where there is at the moment almost none. This project is only the first of an expected continuing collaboration between the applicants and their institutions.