Wilson 8 Andrea Wilson, J.D. University of Houston Law Center. Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy
Fall, 2008 9 Hous. J. Health L. & Pol'y 131 Comment and Note: Missing the Mark: The Public Health Exception to the HIPAA Privacy Rule and Its Impact on Surveillance Activity lexis
The evaluation and maintenance of public health has long been recognized as an essential function of government in the United States, even predating the Revolutionary War. n1 Public health [*132] agencies' essential functions focus on the general health of the population to protect against epidemics, environmental risks, the effects of natural disasters, and insufficient accessibility to adequate health services. n2 Surveillance, defined as "the systematic observation of a population to identify the causes, prevalence, incidence, and health effects of injury or disease," is accomplished by the accumulation, compilation, and use of information about the health of individuals. n3 It is one of the primary means by which public health officials are able to foster and support these needed functions, enabling agencies to develop policy that will reduce risk to the public's health. n4 Surveillance involves "disease reporting, anonymous serological surveys, and other epidemiological investigation" to gather information "on both communicable and noncommunicable diseases." n5 Properly utilized, surveillance is a fundamental government activity, indispensable in nature. n6
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