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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2005.077305v1 97/Supplement_1/S44    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bensimon, C. M. Articles by Upshur, R. E.G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bensimon, C. M. Articles by Upshur, R. E.G.

Cécile M. Bensimon, PhD, MA and Ross E.G. Upshur, MD, MA, MSc, FRCPC

Cécile M. Bensimon is with the Joint Centre for Bioethics and Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, and the Primary Care Research Unit at Sunnybrook, Toronto. Ross E. G. Upshur is with the Joint Centre for Bioethics, and the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and Public Health Sciences Bioethics, University of Toronto, Toronto, and the Primary Care Research Unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Ross Upshur, Primary Care Research Unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Ave, Room E3-49, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3N5 Canada (e-mail: ross.upshur{at}sunnybrook.ca)

When public health decisionmakers turned to quarantine during the recent severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, difficult questions were raised about the legitimacy and acceptability of restrictive measures to attain public health goals. SARS also brought to light how scientific uncertainty can permeate public health decisionmaking, leading us to think about the relationship between the adequacy of evidence of the effectiveness of an intervention and its role in the justification of public health action.

In this article, we critically examine the role of evidence and effectiveness in decision-making for quarantine. It is our contention that the effectiveness of a public health intervention should not be defined exclusively in (absolute and objective) scientific terms but rather conceptualized relationally and normatively in public health decisionmaking.