ABSTRACT
The history or health policy tends to be studied either within the broader context of social and welfare policy or as one possible focus for study of the relationship between scientific research and government priorities. According to a leading authority, Daniel Fox,
Health policy, like policy for retirement income, job security and unemployment, social services and housing, has been profoundly influenced by the politics of economic productivity, social justice, and demographic change in each country. However, health policy has also been guided by perceptions of the nature and course of disease and opinions about the probability that particular medical interventions, organized and distributed in particular ways, would ameliorate its effects. 1
In a recent article, Virginia Berridge identifies a need for research situating post-Second-World-War developments in medical science and disease in their policy context, pointing out that 'The translation of scientific "truth" into policy "fact" is a vital and under-researched conjuncture.' 2