Stuart Rennie is the first author on a new article in Public Health Ethics: “Ethics of Mathematical Modeling in Public Health: The Case of Medical Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention in Africa.”
The authors call for greater research and reflection on the ethics of mathematical modeling public health. They use a case study to highlight issues that have had little attention. The case considers voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) initiative in Africa. The case is illustrative because of its scale: it is the largest public health initiative with surgery in human history.
The authors particularly argue for more attention to the ethics of mathematical modeling because there has been little research on the topic, while modeling is increasingly prominent since the COVID-19 pandemic.