Chapter 8.A.1 (or 6.A.1)  Medical and Legal Views of Public Health

Notes: Traditional Public Health Strategies (page 880/590)

Note 1. Sources of Information

    The original purpose of public health surveillance programs was to investigate disease outbreaks for epidemic prevention.  That purpose has expanded over time.  Today, disease surveillance is used for statistical analysis, planning, budgeting, and general research.  The surveillance data may even be used to contact patients who are not complying with medication regimens.  The growing role of public health surveillance is explored in Wendy K. Mariner’s article Mission Creep: Public Health Surveillance and Medical Privacy, 87 B.U. L. Rev. 347 (2007).

    Today, the Internet also plays a critical role in public health surveillance.  For more information on how public health information is disseminated through the Web, as well as a look at how Internet-based public health monitoring has been used to track the spread of swine flu, see John S Brownstein et al, Digital Disease Detection – Harnessing the Web for Public Health Surveillance, 360 New Eng. J. Med. 2153 (2009). 

New Note 3.5. International Standards and Domestic Responses

     To view the full text of the International Health Regulations (IHR) referred to at page 873/583, and for more information on the background and the 2005 revision of the IHR, see WHO, International Health Regulations, http://www.who.int/ihr/en/. Countries with federal systems of governments face special challenges in implementing the IHR.  For recommendations on responding to these challenges, see Kumanan Wilson, Christopher McDougall, David P. Fidler, and Harvey Lazar ‘s article Strategies for Implementing the New International Health Regulations in Federal Countries, 86(3) Bull World Health Organ. 215, 215-220 (2008.

    For information on how the 2005 IHR have shaped legal responses to the 2009 swine flu crisis, see David P. Fidler’s article The Swine Flu Outbreak and International Law, ASIL Insights, April 17, 2009.  See also Lawrence O. Gostin’s article, Fighting the Flu with One Hand Tied, Wash. Post, May 1, 2009.  For updated information on reported cases and deaths associated with H1N1 influenza, see WHO, Situation updates -- Influenza A (H1N1), http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/updates/en/index.html