Public Health Law

Staff Contacts

Law is an important tool in public health practice. Public health law is an emerging discipline that combines elements from legal practice that are relevant to the work of health departments. Public health officials have many legal rights and responsibilities as they protect and promote the health of their communities. New partnerships between public health professionals and attorneys are emerging as they work jointly to balance individual rights and public responsibilities.

LINKS TO PUBLIC HEALTH LAW RESOURCES

»	Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Public Health Law Program
	This program seeks to improve the health of the public through law by developing the legal preparedness of the public health system, improving the understanding and use of law as a public health tool, and establishing robust partnerships to join public health practitioners with partners in key law-related sectors. More »

»	Public Health Law Association (PHLA)
	The PHLA is a non-profit, membership organization for everyone who shapes, uses, teaches, studies, or conducts research in the highly dynamic field of public health law. More »

»	CDC Public Health Law Annual Conference
	Each year, CDC hosts The Public's Health and the Law in the 21st Century conference. For more information on past conferences, click here.

»	CDC Mututal Aid Agreement Tools
	Mutual aid agreements can be effective tools to assist U.S. state and local governments, Tribes, Canadian provinces, First Nations, and Mexican states in sharing information, data, supplies, resources, equipment, or personnel for the purpose of protecting the public’s health. Visit the CDC website to download sugggested provisions for public health mutual aid agreements and an inventory of mutual aid agreements. More »

»	The CDC Public Health Law News
	A free weekly e-mail digest of current, worldwide news stories, court opinions, announcements, and special features related to public health law and legislation. More »

»	Model Public Health Laws
	A recent study by CDC Public Health Law Program staff identified 107 model public health laws reported on in the manuscript "A Review and Critique of Model Public Health Laws." More »

»	Emergency Legal Preparedness Clearinghouse
	Includes various links to resources related to emergency preparedness and response. More »

»	TurningPoint Public Health Statute Modernization
	The mission of this TurningPoint National Excellence Collaborative is to transform and strengthen the legal framework of the public health system through a collaborative process to develop a model public health law. More »

»	TurningPoint Model State Public Health Act
	A tool for assessing public health laws. This publication is a product of the Public Health Statute Modernization Collaborative. More »

»	CDC Public Health Law Academic Centers
	CDC Center for Public Health Law Partnerships (A CDC grantee located at the University of Louisville) Center for Biodefense, Law and Public Policy (Texas Tech U) Health Law and Policy Institute, University of Houston Law Center The Center for Law and the Public's Health at Georgetown and Johns Hopkins Universities LSU Law Center Program in Law, Science, and Public Health More »