Abstract
Over the past decade, clinical ethics has gained increasing prominence within the field of health ethics, especially from a global perspective. The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, brought a range of clinical ethics challenges into sharp focus, from bedside rationing to the use of unproven therapies. While professional organisations have done a lot in this domain, the World Health Organization (WHO) has occasionally addressed specific clinical ethics concerns, but there remains a lack of comprehensive, general WHO guidance on clinical ethics. Given WHO's role in global health, the organization is well-positioned to advise and recommend member states on improving healthcare delivery and health systems through specific guidance. The upcoming WHO "Clinical Ethics Guidance" is intended to play this vital role at the global level. This guidance has been developed to support and provide broad recommendations, with a particular emphasis on governance in clinical ethics to a diverse range of stakeholders, especially member states and health policymakers. Governance 18 crucial for shaping systems that ensure ethical standards in clinical settings and encounters at the point of healthcare delivery. Accordingly, governance is central to this document, which addresses governance at institutional, national, and international levels. While clinical ethics encompasses many specific issues, this document focuses on key global ethical challenges and their governance and implementation. The guidance is organized into several sections. The first provides a historical background and context for clinical ethics. The second addresses key issues in clinical ethics education. The third explores clinical ethics support services, including ethics committees and consultations. The fourth focuses on policy development for ethical healthcare practices at national and institutional levels. The fifth discusses international coordination and governance. The final section offers practical recommendations for stakeholders, particularly Ministries of Health, to enhance governance and implement ethical standards in clinical settings. It is developed by an international working group (WG) comprised of experts from all WHO regions and observer organisations which was established at the end of 2023, under the supervision of a WHO internal steering committee. At the workshop, on behalf of the WHO WG (https://www.who.int/groups/working -group-on-developing-who-guidance-on-clinical-ethics), the team leading the guidance development will present the latest content and gather feedback from participants. The most recent version of the guidance will be shared in advance to allow participants ample time for review and meaningful deliberation.