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Article: Public Health and the Law
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Public Health
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE LAW
In
The Future of Public Health
, published by the Institute of Medicine in 1988, the mission of public health is defined as "fulfilling society's interest in assuring conditions in which people can be healthy." Public health law covers those areas of the law that advance this purpose. The reach of public health law is as broad as the reach of public health itself.
INTERRELATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE LAW: SOME DEFINITIONAL ASPECTS
Law is a body of directions or commands requiring or prohibiting certain conduct, enforceable by legal sanctions. It is also a body of directions or commands that grant authority to a public body or agency or requires such a body or ...