New consent rules threaten public health

New guidance on patient consent and confidentiality could compromise disease surveillance activities, putting the health of the public at serious risk. Verity and Nicoll (p 1210) argue that such restrictions would so damage surveillance procedures that they would cease to protect the health of the public, resulting in preventable ill health and deaths. The public should be made aware of the importance of surveillance, and organisations that determine health policy should consider issues related to health surveillance.

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