As was noted in the discussion in Section 3.1.2 above, the boundary between public health and clinical medicine is contentious, and both the boundary and the components included in each are likely to change over time. There may never be complete agreement by all experts, but the act of making components and boundaries explicit can at least facilitate discussion on these difficult issues that are summarised as discussion points for further consideration in Box 2. 'Public health is the organised response by society to protect and promote health, and to prevent illness, injury and disability. The starting point for identifying public health issues, problems and priorities, and for designing and implementing interventions, is the population as a whole, or population sub-groups.' (NPHP 1998)