It can be difficult to implement disease control strategies effectively and, at the same time, with fairness and justice.  Many proposed disease mitigation strategies may have unintended  (and often undesirable )  consequences, such as adverse economic effects or the restriction of civil rights and civil liberties. 

In order to focus on the profound ethical and legal issues inherent in various pandemic disease mitigation approaches that are being proposed domestically and internationally, the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Microbial Threats convened a public workshop and released the workshop summary entitled Ethical and Legal Considerations in Mitigating Pandemic Disease.

The workshop explored lessons learned from past pandemics, identified barriers to equitable and effective responses to future pandemics, and examined opportunities to overcome these obstacles through research, policy, legislation, communication, and community engagement.