Ethical evaluation of immigration screening policy for latent tuberculosis infection

Abstract

Objective: In Australia and New Zealand, immigration screening policy relating to tuberculosis is targeted towards identifying potential new arrivals with active infectious pulmonary disease. Recently, extensions of immigration policies to include latent tuberculosis infections have been proposed, which raise a new spectrum of ethical issues. Methods: Existing Australian and New Zealand immigration policy was reviewed. A principle-based analytic framework was adopted for consideration of the ethical implications of proposed public health policy. Potential extensions of current policy in relation to latent tuberculosis infection are evaluated using this approach. Results: Current immigration ..