Article: Public health
See also: Global health
Postage stamp, New Zealand, 1933. Public health has been promoted - and depicted - in a wide variety of ways.
Public health has been described as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. The population in question can be as small as a handful of people or as large as all the inhabitants of several continents (for instance, in the case of a pandemic). Public health has many sub-fields, but typically includes the interdisciplinary categories of epidemiology, biostatistics and health services. Environmental health, community health, behavioral health, and occupational health, are also important areas of public health.
The focus of public health interventions is to prevent and manage diseases, injuries and other health conditions through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors, communities and environments. Its aim is preventing from happening or re-occurring health problems by implementing educational programs, developing policies, administering services, and conducting research. In many cases, treating a disease or controlling a pathogen can be vital to preventing it in others, such as during an outbreak. Vaccination programs and distribution of condoms to prevent the spread of communicable diseases are examples of common preventive public health measures.
Public health also takes several actions to limit the health disparities between different areas of the country, continent or world. The great issue is addressing access of individuals and communities to health care, in terms of financial, geographical or sociocultural constraints in access to and use of services. Applications of the public health system include areas of maternal and child health, health services administration, emergency response, and prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases.
The great positive impact of public health programs is widely acknowledged. Due in part to the policies and actions developed through public health, the 20th century registered a decrease of the mortality rates in infants and children and a continual increase in life expectancy in most parts of the world. For example, it is estimated that the life expectancy has increased for Americans by thirty years since 1900, and worldwide by six years since 1990.
See also: Global health
Postage stamp, New Zealand, 1933. Public health has been promoted - and depicted - in a wide variety of ways.
Public health has been described as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. The population in question can be as small as a handful of people or as large as all the inhabitants of several continents (for instance, in the case of a pandemic). Public health has many sub-fields, but typically includes the interdisciplinary categories of epidemiology, biostatistics and health services. Environmental health, community health, behavioral health, and occupational health, are also important areas of public health.
The focus of public health interventions is to prevent and manage diseases, injuries and other health conditions through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors, communities and environments. Its aim is preventing from happening or re-occurring health problems by implementing educational programs, developing policies, administering services, and conducting research. In many cases, treating a disease or controlling a pathogen can be vital to preventing it in others, such as during an outbreak. Vaccination programs and distribution of condoms to prevent the spread of communicable diseases are examples of common preventive public health measures.
Public health also takes several actions to limit the health disparities between different areas of the country, continent or world. The great issue is addressing access of individuals and communities to health care, in terms of financial, geographical or sociocultural constraints in access to and use of services. Applications of the public health system include areas of maternal and child health, health services administration, emergency response, and prevention and control of infectious and chronic diseases.
The great positive impact of public health programs is widely acknowledged. Due in part to the policies and actions developed through public health, the 20th century registered a decrease of the mortality rates in infants and children and a continual increase in life expectancy in most parts of the world. For example, it is estimated that the life expectancy has increased for Americans by thirty years since 1900, and worldwide by six years since 1990.