ABSTRACT
Health in Britain has probably been subjected to more conscious policy formation than almost any other area of government activity. Policy like expertise is a relatively new word in the English language, originating in the nineteenth century as a derivation of police. The development of internal research expertise, and serving a different purpose, the 1946 National Health Service Act rejuvenated the culture of external advice through the creation of nine Standing Medical Advisory Committees. The chapter describe the examples of acquired immune deficiency syndrome AIDS and bovine spongiform encephalopathy BSE and attempts to understand the significance of the Chief Medical Officers CMO's position within Whitehall, and between the government, the medical profession and the public. The development of nutrition research and policy in the 1930s illustrates the problems of prioritising research within government, and the tension between the Ministry of Health and the Medical Research Council MRC.
