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Between the French Revolution and the middle of the 20th century, the evolution of health and social action tended to focus on laying the foundations for intervention by public authorities (the latter having initially laid emphasis on a right to individual protection before justifying this in terms of the general interests of society). However, since the end of the Second World War, this action has tended to address the question of how to implement these interventions?; today, the protection of health is widely assured thanks to coexistence of the two principles of universality and selectivity.