Public Health Policy for the 1990s

Abstract

Public health policy in the 1990s will be determined not only by factors intrinsic to the health field but by external circumstances related to international and domestic political and economic changes. The prospects for positive action vary with the specific areas of public health policy, since in each instance there are somewhat different sets of interacting factors. In all instances, however, the dominant role of conservative political forces in the United States is a major limiting condition. Gains in specific areas of public health will undoubtedly be made in the coming decade, but fundamental changes in public health policy will require far-reaching changes in the nation's ideology and politics.