Illicit drugs, infectious disease and public health: A historical perspective.

The present report outlines a presentation by Professor Virginia Berridge at the Second Stanier Lecture held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on November 5, 2002. The relationship among public health concepts, illicit drug use prevention and policy, and infection control strategies in England and other locations is paralleled over the course of two centuries. This historical journey analyzes changes in public health and demonstrates how history and public health have intersected at various times to result in the public health approaches used today.