CCOUC 15th Anniversary Research Seminar: Managing the Dead: Ethical Tensions in Global Health Practice

Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response (CCOUC) and Centre for Global Health (CGH) jointly organize a lunchtime seminar on managing the dead, an often overlooked but critical aspect of disaster response that involves complex ethical, cultural, and logistical challenges. Details are as follows:

Title

Managing the Dead: Ethical Tensions in Global Health Practice
SeminarPoster_20260304

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaker

Dr Halina Suwalowska (Department of Population Health, University of Oxford)

Moderator

Dr Chunlan Guo (CCOUC, CUHK)

Date

March 18th, 2026 (Wednesday)

Time

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm (UTC+8)

Venue

KCTCRC, 1/F School of Public Health Building, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital

Language

English

Abstract

Death is a constant in global health, yet the ethical questions it raises often remain marginal to policy and practice. This presentation examines how moments of crisis such as natural disasters and infectious disease outbreaks bring into view the complex challenges of managing the dead, including tensions between public health imperatives, dignity, and cultural and religious practices. It also considers the use of dead bodies in research supported by major global health funders, raising questions of consent, value, and inequality. Across these contexts, the treatment of the dead reveals broader ethical and structural tensions.

Registration

https://cuhk.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bDb3kDdOE51M5U2