Instruments in health policy can be mass based approaches, such as health education campaigns in the public health sector, or the classical face-to-face interventions belonging to the clinical sector. So far Political Science lacks studies that compare the influence and diffusion of these instruments. Starting from here, this paper looks at the relation of mass-based and curative policy approaches. Theoretically, we can expect them to develop sequentially or interdependently. In the first case, they are develop more or less independently from each other. In the latter case they are coordinated to a certain extent. This paper puts forward a model of co-evolution of two different policy sectors, public health and health care, and their related instruments, actors and conflicts. Taking tobacco control policy in Australia as a first example, we see that country, which has a National Health Service as well as highly coordinated interest groups seem to have an interdependent co-evolution of curative and and mass- based policy instruments eventually leading to integrated policy strategies.
