O'Connor Jean C, McGowan Angela K, Curran James
Georgia Department of Human Resources, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
J Law Med Ethics. 2002 Fall;30(3 Suppl):210-8.
The articles reflecting the proceedings of the first-ever national public health law conference, Law and the Public's Health in the 21st Century, make it clear that public health law is the synergistic intersection of public health practices and the law. This article offers, and reflects on, observations organized around five themes expressed at that conference about the present status of public health law. The first is that public health law is indeed in a renaissance, or period of renewal, as evidenced by the rich history of the discipline and the growing body of scholarship. Secondly, legal preparedness, which offers a framework for action, is a critical component of public health preparedness. Third, law can be practiced preventively to positively impact the public's health, but unguided application of the law as a tool is problematic. Fourth, partnerships between public health and the law and among the professionals in the disciplines that touch law and public health are essential to protecting the public's health. Finally, public health law is in an era of extraordinary challenge, but with those challenges comes great opportunity that must be realized if we are to have excellence in public health practice in the 21st century.
反映首届全国公共卫生法会议“21世纪的法律与公众健康”议程的文章表明，公共卫生法是公共卫生实践与法律的协同交叉领域。本文围绕该会议上就公共卫生法现状提出的五个主题进行了阐述并反思。第一个主题是，公共卫生法确实正处于复兴或更新阶段，这一点从该学科丰富的历史和不断增长的学术成果中可见一斑。其次，法律准备工作为行动提供了框架，是公共卫生准备工作的关键组成部分。第三，法律可以预防性地实施，对公众健康产生积极影响，但将法律作为一种工具随意使用存在问题。第四，公共卫生与法律之间以及涉及法律和公共卫生的各学科专业人员之间的伙伴关系对于保护公众健康至关重要。最后，公共卫生法正处于一个面临巨大挑战的时代，但伴随这些挑战而来的是巨大机遇，要在21世纪实现卓越的公共卫生实践，就必须抓住这些机遇。
