Moulton Anthony D, Mercer Shawna L, Popovic Tanja, Briss Peter A, Goodman Richard A, Thombley Melisa L, Hahn Robert A, Fox Daniel M
Public Health Law Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MS D-30, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.
Am J Public Health. 2009 Jan;99(1):17-24. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.130278. Epub 2008 Nov 13.
Systematic reviews are generating valuable scientific knowledge about the impact of public health laws, but this knowledge is not readily accessible to policy makers. We identified 65 systematic reviews of studies on the effectiveness of 52 public health laws: 27 of those laws were found effective, 23 had insufficient evidence to judge effectiveness, 1 was harmful, and 1 was found to be ineffective. This is a valuable, scientific foundation-that uses the highest relevant standard of evidence-for the role of law as a public health tool. Additional primary studies and systematic reviews are needed to address significant gaps in knowledge about the laws' public health impact, as are energetic, sustained initiatives to make the findings available to public policy makers.
系统评价正在产生有关公共卫生法律影响的宝贵科学知识，但政策制定者却难以获取这些知识。我们对52项公共卫生法律有效性的研究进行了65项系统评价：其中27项法律被认定有效，23项缺乏判断有效性的充分证据，1项有害，1项无效。这是一个宝贵的科学基础——采用了最高相关证据标准——为法律作为公共卫生工具的作用提供了依据。还需要进行更多的原始研究和系统评价，以填补有关这些法律对公共卫生影响的知识重大空白，同时还需要积极持续地开展行动，以便将研究结果提供给公共政策制定者。
