Click here for more information about this April 28, 2009 briefing.
CDC’s Public Health Law Program developed this, foundational course on public
health law as a learning resource for public health practitioners, students, and
others.
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Internships
Read more about Internships on the internship page.
Overview
Law is a foundational public health tool for disease prevention and health
promotion. For many traditional public health problems, both acute and chronic,
the role of law has been crucial in attaining public health goals, both
framing and complementing the roles of epidemiology and laboratory science.
Many of the greatest successes claimed by public health, such as high childhood
immunization rates, improved motor vehicle safety, safer workplaces, and
reduced tooth decay, have relied heavily on law. Recently, law has played
a fundamental role in the control and prevention of emerging health problems
such as SARS and the threat of pandemic influenza.
The CDC Director established the Public Health Law Program in 2000, following
consultations with CDC programs and extramural partners, to lead the agency’s
public health law initiative. The Public Health Law Program is a component
of the Office of Strategy and Innovation,
located in the Office of the Director.
Mission, Goals, and Strategies
The Program’s mission is to advance the public’s health
through law.
The Program has three strategic goals:
- To improve the understanding and use of law as a public health tool
- To develop CDC’s capacity to apply law to achievement of its Health
Protection Goals
- To develop the legal preparedness of the public health system to
address all public health priorities
The Program employs five broad strategies toward those goals:
- Developing practical, law-centered tools for practitioners and policy
makers in all relevant sectors
- Engaging practitioners and policy makers in identifying priorities
and in developing and applying legal tools
- Addressing all four core elements of public health legal preparedness:
laws and legal authorities; competencies; coordination across sectors
and jurisdictions; and, scientific and best-practices information
- Providing consultation to CDC programs and partners
- Establishing partnerships linking CDC and all partners active in
public health law
Impact on the People's Health
The law-based tools developed by the Public Health Law Program enable
CDC programs and front-line public health professionals and policy makers
to make such advances as:
- Accelerating and enhancing their response to public health emergencies,
including bioterrorism and pandemic influenza
- Identifying promising new tools for prevention of obesity and other
chronic diseases
- Upgrading the legal authorities of state, tribal, and local governments
to reduce the public’s exposure to tuberculosis
- Improving identification of injuries, injury risk factors, and injury
prevention interventions
- Mobilizing and focusing new resources on the nation’s public health
priorities through collaboration with established partners as well as
with such novel and unconventional partners as elected state and local
officials, the private bar, law enforcement, and the judiciary
Collaboration
The Public Health Law Program collaborates with a growing number of colleagues
in many disciplines. These include public health policy makers and practitioners;
elected officials; attorneys in public health, health care, and related
specialties; members of the law enforcement, judicial, and emergency management
communities; researchers; educators; and many others. Intramurally, we work
closely with CDC programs to help them develop their capacity to use law
in their work.
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