Conservation Health

摘要

It's called "conservation medicine," but perhaps a better name would be "conservation health," implying a preventive approach that embraces the precautionary principle. The basic idea is simple, but it's seldom observed: "When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically." This principle would lead us to fully test drugs and chemicals before allowing them on the market, and would ensure that we'd proceed very cautiously in our contact with natural ecosystems. Conservation medicine is beginning to make clear the consequences of upsetting nature's balance, in terms of human, animal and planetary health.