Welcome
Founded in October, 2000 as a CDC Collaborating Center in Public Health Legal Preparedness, and in June, 2005 as a WHO/PAHO Collaborating Center in Public Health Law and Human Rights,
the Centers for Law and the Public's Health: A Collaborative at Johns Hopkins and Georgetown Universities is a primary, international, national, state, and local resource on public health law, ethics, human rights, and policy for public health practitioners, lawyers, legislators, judges, academics, policymakers, and others.
News and Updates
- October 20, 2008 - ReachMD on XM Radio has recently posted its broadcast concerning expedited partner therapies (EPT), including analyses from Center Executive Director James G. Hodge, Jr. Please link here for more information about the broadcast. For more information about the Center's collaborative work with CDC to examine the legal framework for EPT nationally, please link here.
- October 17, 2008 - the Centers is pleased to announce its forthcoming work to assess legal and ethical issues concerning mental and behavioral health preparedness as part of a $7.7 million award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health Preparedness. In collaboration with colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Center Executive Director, James G. Hodge, Jr., and colleagues will explore critical legal and ethical issues through a multi-stage, five-year project designed to provide significant guidance for mental and behavioral health professionals, emergency management personnel, policymakers and others. For more information, please link here.
- October 1, 2008 - the Centers is pleased to announce the continuation of its project to examine legal and regulatory issues concerning the Emergency System for the Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP). With funding and support from DHHS' Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), the Centers will focus on local emergency laws and policies in forthcoming work in 2008-2009. For more information about the Centers' existing work regarding ESAR-VHP, please link here.
- August 12, 2008 - the American Bar Association House of Delegates passed a resolution urging the removal of legal barriers to implementing expedited partner therapies (EPT) nationally. For more information about EPT and the Center's collaborative work with CDC to examine the legal framework for EPT nationally, please link here.
- July 16, 2008 - The Centers' report, Legal Preparedness for School Closures in Response to Pandemic Influenza and Other Emergencies, which presents a summary description and analyses of express state laws concerning school closure, is now available. For additional information, please link here.
- June 20, 2008 - As a CDC collaborating center with CDC's Public Health Law Program, the Centers was pleased to participate in the CDC/ASLME 2008 National Summit on Obesity Prevention on June 18-20, 2008 in Atlanta, GA. Invited participants focused on various legal interventions to address obesity in the United States and internationally.
- June 4, 2008 - The Colorado Legislature has passed major public
health legislation, SB 194: The Public Health Revitalization Act, based in part on the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act. SB 194 was signed into law by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter on June 3, 2008. For more information from the Colorado Public Health Alliance, please link here.
- May 16, 2008 - Together with CDC's Public Health Law Program and CDC's Division of Tuberculosis Elimination, the Centers is pleased to announce a series of collaborative projects on tuberculosis control laws and policies, including a comprehensive review of select jurisdictions' express TB control laws, development of a handbook on TB control laws and policies, and a forthcoming model state TB control act. For more information, please link here.
- January 25, 2008 - Together with the CDC Division of Adolescent and
School Health and Public Health Law Program, the Centers announces the availability of the Report entitled “A CDC Review
of School Laws and Policies Concerning Child and Adolescent Health” which
is now published as a Special Issue of the Journal of School Health
(Volume 78), February 2008. Using
the coordinated school health program model as a framework, the Report
examines laws and policies concerning the health of children and
adolescents in schools. It is intended to help practitioners and
policymakers in public health and education at the federal, state, tribal, and
local levels enhance their knowledge of relevant laws and policies.
- January 18, 2008 - Together with CDC's Public Health Law
Program, the Centers notes the
publication of the official proceedings of
the 2007 National
Summit on Public Health Legal Preparedness: The National
Action Agenda for Public Health Legal Preparedness as a special supplement of the Journal
of Law, Medicine and Ethics. This issue features the
contributions of Centers
colleagues, including James G. Hodge, Jr.,
Executive Director, and Senior Scholars, Kristine Gebbie
and David Fidler.
Brief Background
Guided by a diverse group of faculty, scholars, fellows, and collaborative partners, and with additional funding support from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Center seeks to enhance the visibility and effectiveness of law as a tool for the promotion of the public's health by:
- Conducting legal research and analysis in targeted areas relevant to public health through core projects on selected public health law topics;
- Working closely with international, national, tribal, state, and local public health leaders on public health law and policy issues;
- Developing innovative public health law tools and model laws [e.g., the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act and the Turning Point Model State Public Health Act];
- Serving as an interactive resource for practical and scholarly information on public health law;
- Improving existing public health law training programs and developing new offerings, including Core Legal Competencies for Public Health Professionals, to effectively deliver legal training to public health audiences through established channels; and
- Developing practice-based resources, including checklists on interjurisdictional legal preparedness, local government public health preparedness,and civil legal liability and other tools, for public health emergency legal preparedness in collaboration with CDC's Public Health Law Program, ASTHO, and NACCHO.
Comments
Comments and suggestions concerning Center activities, resources, information, and website are invited. Please contact James G. Hodge, Jr., J.D., LL.M., Executive Director.
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