Settings for Public Health Practice Term Paper

There is confusion about laws which are subject to different interpretations and this result in critical information not being made available. This is caused by such laws like the "Educational Rights and Privacy Act -- FERPA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act -- HIPAA and a number of legislations that seek to protect the privacy of the family." ("Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy," 2007) Many state laws are also interpreted in such a way that they retard the work of agencies involved in monitoring health and safety issues. ("Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy," 2007) the complex nature of the law and the state laws, with a small percent of the laws applicable in a federal scale, it is not possible to enforce uniform standards.

Conclusion

It is to be concluded that the federal laws must be made universally applicable and state laws abrogated so far as health issues are concerned. It is evident that public health questions affect the very security of the country and must be treated on par with the defense of the country.Just as it is legal for the federal defense laws alone to be implemented all over the country, the public health and health enforcement must be a sole federal subject so that much of the confusion and the various state legislations that create anomalies and interstate and inter-department rivalry can be avoided.

References

Billi, John E; Agrawal, Gail Bopp. (2001) "The Challenge of Regulating Managed Care"

Gostin, Larry Ogalthorpe. (2002) "Public Health Law and Ethics: A Reader" University of California Press.

Grim, Charles W. (2005, Jan) "IHS Focuses on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention"

Retrieved 11 February, 2008 at http://www.usmedicine.com/column.cfm?columnID=193&issueID=70

N.A. (2007, Jun) "Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy"

Retrieved 11 February, 2008 at http://www.hhs.gov/vtreport.html#common

N.A. (2005) "Testimony of Daniel R. Levinson Nominee for Inspector General Department of Health and Human Services" Retrieved 11 February, 2008 at http://oig.hhs.gov/testimony/docs/2005/Levinson-confirmSenateFinanceB.pdf

Richards, Edward P; Rathbun, Katharine C. (1999) "Medical Care Law" Jones & Bartlett….....