PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE LAW

Public Health and the Law

Public Health and the Law

Introduction

In this era, regulations related to public health are facing complex challenges at all levels around the globe. Situations such as the anthrax bio terrorism and the attacks on the world trade centre put the regulations of public health at the vanguard of national security. The new challenges add to the previous challenges for which the agencies of public health are working for quite a long time. The control and prevention of a myriad of diseases persists as a problem with a huge increase in cases of obesity, some other factors, increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Moreover, the risks associated with safety and health environment and at the workplace also remain indefinable. Lastly, there the lack of health insurance coverage for a number of citizens also remains a problem, limiting these people to access health care services when required.

The agencies of public health are striving to formulating solutions for the said problems; solutions which are politically and scientifically charged. A serious concern, in this regard, is that public health heavily relies on other sciences including toxicology, environmental sciences and epidemiology; therefore, policy and decision makers also have to foresee the considerations of these sciences while formulating policies for public health. Precisely, these all challenges require greater commitment from the society as well as from the federal and state government in order to solve the issues of public health by law. This commitment will call for increased clarification of powers of the public health agencies (Turnock, 2009).

This article aims to explore the contributions of administrative law towards public health. It also aims to address a common administrative, public health law, which is the centre of media coverage in recent days.

Discussion

Administrative Law Principles for Public Health

The administrative law from ...