title: Public health law in the new century.
abstract: Public health law is a broad and sometimes nebulous field which has undergone extensive reform and rethinking over the past decade. This article provides a survey of current issues in public health law, highlighting these reforms and the potential for public health legislation to deal with upcoming threats, notably bioterrorism. While recognising the anxieties bioterrorism brings, public health responses must be grounded in a coherent philosophy of risk management. Its administrators must also be aware that large-scale threats to public health are not unprecedented and that past experience can provide an important guide for future strategies.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health Law, School of Law, Flinders University. chris.reynolds@flinders.edu.au
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reynolds
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000266:history / Q000517:prevention & control; D001315:Australia; D023482:Bioterrorism / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control; D003140:Communicable Disease Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000266:history; D004739:England; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D011634:Public Health / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends*; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States