ABSTRACT
Trends in human mortality suggest that the public health perspective at least deserves a look. From the beginning of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth century, average life expectancies in Western nations rose from roughly 25 to 75 years, but much of this gain occurred before the main advances in modern medicine. The medical model for saving human lives provides emergency medical treatment to individuals with life-threatening illness or injury. As embodied in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) the medical model for preserving species operates in a remarkably analogous fashion. Within its frame of reference, the ESA seems to have had some success in restoring the health or slowing the declined of imperiled species. As of January 31, 1999, 1195 US species were listed as endangered or threatened, of which 518 have approved recovery plans. Medicine deals with individuals through treatment of disease and injury. Public health deals with population through prevention of disease and injury.
