Daniel Wolfe, Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, 722 West 168th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10032, 212-305-0092, dw2024@columbia.edu

Since the 1980s, two philosophies for dealing with threats to public health, harm reduction and the precautionary principle, have been the focus of increasing discussion and debate. Each emerged from a particular political and social context – injection drug use and the risk of blood-borne illness in the case of the former, environmental hazards caused by industries and corporations in the case of the latter – but each has far broader implications for public health policy and practice. Both entail critical questions about risk, uncertainty, responsibility, and the uses of scientific evidence. This presentations examines the relationship between these two schools of thought. Are they compatible or in tension? Can a fuller understanding of one enrich our appreciation of the other?

Learning Objectives:

• Explore articulation of the precuationary principle
• Apply the precutionary principle to harm reduction
• Draw out the lessons that history offers in considering the implications of the precautionary principle for harm reduction

Keywords: History, Public Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.