Competencies in the ethical practice of public health

Background The ethical practice of public health is guided by the articulation of ethical principles in a code and competencies to be demonstrated by individuals or embodied by institutions.Methods To update competencies listed since the first full list published by the American Public Health Leadership Society in 2004, we search the published literature with terms related to ethics, competencies, education, and public health.Results We identified 84 articles meeting the search criteria. Only five presented specific competencies for public health ethics. Several of these were overly general. The most specific competencies related to particular areas of public health.Discussion There has been little progress in describing public health ethics competencies since 2004, with the exception of particular areas of public health. To be meaningful, competency frameworks must be specific and measurable. But to be useful, they must not be overly specific and burdensome in number. The authors recommend that institutions and countries promoting the ethical practice of public health through codes and competencies share their questions and solutions informally and transparently in a community of learning.