Ethical Considerations for Clinical Photography in the Global South

Abstract

Clinical photography is an important tool for teaching practitioners and field workers about the clinical manifestations of famine and undernutrition, particularly with respect to the Global South. Current international guidelines for clinical photography are not consistently applied or enforced, which has led to violations of privacy and rights, particularly for patients and victims of disaster in the Global South. Combining existing clinical photography guidelines from the North with ongoing clinical ethics debates in the South, this paper explores approaches to establishing photography guidelines throughout the world that will be sensitive to the privacy and dignities of all patients and victims of emergencies.

¿Cómo afectan los medios sociales a la confidencialidad de los pacientes? Revisión de los potenciales problemas y recomendaciones

“…Sobre la base de nuestra propia experiencia y las propuestas de diversos autores, a continuación detallamos una serie de recomendaciones o posibles soluciones que deben tener en cuenta los profesionales sanitarios para utilizar dichas herramientas de manera ética y segura (6,16,28,33,(41)(42)(43):…”

Considerations for Use of Dental Photography and Electronic Media in Dental Education and Clinical Practice

“…Guidelines suggest that, first and foremost, clinicians should refrain from photographing the entire body or face whenever possible. The practice of blurring identifying characteristics or blocking out eyes has become commonplace when it is necessary to display a greater portion of the patient's body 22 . In the modern era, instead of this imperfect practice of disguising identities, clinicians should consider requesting consent from all patients for photography whether or not they can be identified from the photograph 8 , 12 , 22 , 23 .…”

“…The practice of blurring identifying characteristics or blocking out eyes has become commonplace when it is necessary to display a greater portion of the patient's body 22 . In the modern era, instead of this imperfect practice of disguising identities, clinicians should consider requesting consent from all patients for photography whether or not they can be identified from the photograph 8 , 12 , 22 , 23 . The guidelines state that consent should include an explanation of the purpose for which the media is to be used, how it will be displayed, to whom it is likely to be shown, how the patient's privacy will be protected, and how long the images will be retained 23 – 25 .…”

Taking ethical photos of children for medical and research purposes in low-resource settings: an exploratory qualitative study

“…But unless the health workers have parental or guardian responsibility for the child, then this approach fails to address the issues of consent and suggests more about photographer convenience. According to Mackintosh, informed consent “requires that subjects be competent to make a decision about their image, are adequately informed about its use, comprehend what is being communicated, and give voluntary consent to having their picture taken and its subsequent use” [6]. Achieving all these aspects of consent is difficult, particularly in contexts where poor or marginalized groups are not commonly asked for consent on any issue.…”