Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2002

Abstract

Public health seeks to assure the conditions for people to be healthy. Public health can be distinguished from health care in several critical respects. Public health focuses on: (1) the health and safety of populations rather than the health of individual patients; (2) prevention of injury and disease rather than treatment and care; (3) relationships between the government and the community rather than the physician and patient; and (4) population based services grounded on the scientific methodologies of public health (e.g., biostatistics and epidemiology) rather than personal medical services. These critical features - populations, prevention, government and communities, and epidemiological services - are the hallmarks of public health.

Publication Citation

30 J.L. Med. & Ethics 136-140 (2002)

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