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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Wendy K. Mariner, JD, LLM, MPH, Boston University, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, 617 638-4626, wmariner@bu.edu

Both the “war on terror” and pandemic prevention programs use surveillance to find threats to public health and safety. Critics of NSA's domestic eavesdropping argue that government went too far, violating privacy rights. Critics of New York City's monitoring of patients' blood sugar levels to control diabetes (and perhaps save money) objected that public health surveillance may have gone too far. As surveillance systems expand and share personally identifiable medical data, public health surveillance may be vulnerable to not only public criticism, but also legal challenge. Current health surveillance programs cover chronic diseases, genetic conditions, and health behaviors, which may go beyond the original constitutional rationale for contagious disease reporting. Such systems could contribute to a valuable national health data base, and could be further linked to law enforcement systems responsible for local or national security. This presentation analyzes the legal principles governing public health surveillance and how the law may support or limit the scope and methods of surveillance. It suggests a legal framework for reconciling surveillance and medical privacy based on the human right to health set forth in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify laws governing surveillance programs.
• Describe lawful uses of surveillance data.
• Assess programs for consistency with human rights.

Keywords: Health Law, Surveillance

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No