Public interest in health is very high in 1978. This situation provides a powerful stimulus for the life sciences. A wide spectrum of research is needed to meet long-range health problems. (Author/BB)

Evaluation of the efficacy of a medical intervention requires measurements of both its benefits and risks as compared to those of alternative forms of management. The requisite measurements are more difficult to make than this description suggests, and the accumulation of information is inhibited by certain characteristics of our pattern of health…

Expresses the view that health is an individual moral obligation, and that the health of individuals will not be improved via a national health insurance program. (SL)

Defensive medicine (the use of diagnostic and end-treatment measures explicitly for the purposes of averting malpractice suits) is frequently cited as one of the least desirable effects of the current rise in medical litigation. It is claimed that defensive medicine is responsible for the rising cost of health care and the exposure of patients to…

Risk factors for disease consist of personal habits such as cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and bodily characteristics such as hypertension and high serum cholesterol. Progress in identifying, quantifying, and controlling risk factors is opening the way to the prevention of disease. (BB)

Methods for assessing and monitoring the quality of care for research and for quality assurance programs are discussed. (Author/BB)

Presents the history of federal health spending during the past three decades. (BB)

Described is the importance of genetic factors in health and disease and calls for the development of services for genetic screening, diagnosis, and counseling. Such services presently available in Canada are described. (BB)

This is a discussion of preventive medicine. Included is a historical background, a discussion of improving the environment, moderating self-imposed risks, changing consumer expectations, recommendations, and conclusions. (BB)

This is a discussion of some of the reasons for the high cost of health care in the United States in government programs, hospital wages, physician's fees, excess beds, too many specialists, and high technology--and some of the proposed solutions to these problems. (BB)

The primary objective of national health insurance is to make sure that good medical care is available to everyone at an affordable price. Any plan when first adopted will have a role for both private and government sectors but regardless of the mix, the system should meet certain goals. (Author/BB)

A discussion of the relationships, both biological and behavioral, among nutrition, population, and health in relation to government policy. Special emphasis is given to breast feeding and child survival. (BB)

The success of present and future immunization programs is endangered by public and physician complacency and by complex legal and ethical problems related to informed consent and responsibility for rare, vaccine-related injury. (BB)