title: [The role of information in public health decision-making].
abstract: Public health, prevention, health education and health promotion are inseparable from the concepts of information and communication. Information should respond as much as possible to the needs of professionals, decision-makers, and consumers who are more and more concerned and conscious of its importance in light of "information overload", various dissemination channels and the multiplicity of its sources. There are numerous issues at stake ranging from comprehension, to the validation of health information, health education, health promotion, prevention, decision-making, as well as issues related to knowledge and power. Irrespective of the type of choice to be made, the need for information, knowledge, and know-how is inseparable from that of other tools or regulatory measures required for decision-making. Information is the same as competence, epidemiological and population data, health data, scientific opinion, and expert conferences--all are needed to assist in decision-making. Based on the principle of precaution, information must increasingly take into account the rejection of a society which often reasons on the basis of a presumption of zero-risk, in an idealistic manner, and which also excludes the possibility of new risks. The consumer positions himself as the regulator of decisions, specifically those with regard to the notion of acceptable level of risk. All of the actors involved in the health system are or become at one moment or another public health decision-makers. Their decision might be based either on an analytical approach, or on an intuitive approach. Although the act of decision-making is the least visible part of public health policy, it is certainly the driving force. This process should integrate the perspective of all of the relevant players, including consumers, who are currently situated more and more frequently at the heart of the health system. Public health decision-making is conducted as a function of political, strategic and environmental issues; of lobbies and their power; and of social maturation. Decision-making is a necessity. Making the right choice at the right time requires high quality information, and it is often necessary to respect a certain amount of time for reflection and ripening of an issue in order to make the best possible decision. The media and consumers play an increasingly significant role in public health decision-making and in the ensuing legislative consequences and debates which come as a result. Access to information is changing, especially thanks to the Internet which is completely modifying the global scenery of knowledge and know-how. Information supports decision-making with calculated risk, and it offers the opportunity to make choices and decisions, recognising that "to choose, is sometimes to relinquish".
authors.affiliation: Société Régionale du Languedoc Roussillon.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cecchi
mesh_terms: D022126:Access to Information; D035843:Biomedical Research; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003142:Communication; D003256:Community Participation; D003657:Decision Making; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D005104:Expert Testimony; D005246:Feedback; D006266:Health Education; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D020407:Internet; D007878:Legislation as Topic; D008119:Lobbying; D011050:Policy Making; D011057:Politics; D011315:Preventive Medicine; D011634:Public Health; D011639:Public Opinion; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012922:Social Change; D012924:Social Conditions