What is Public Health?
Public Health can be found in the earliest chronicles of the
world-
in the societies of Egypt and Babylon, in the Mosaic laws of community
life,
in the practices of the great Greek and Roman empires.
Public health prevention efforts have been responsible for 25 years of
the nearly 30-year improvement in life expectancy at birth in the United States
since 1900.
...For 900,000 fewer cases of measles being reported in 1996 than in 1941 ...For 42 million fewer smokers than expected in 1996 given trends in smoking since 1965 ...For millions of Americans alive each year who might otherwise have died from heart disease, automobile accidents, HIV infection.
Today, public health is the umbrella over many issues, including some that seem unrelated to health care but that ultimately influence every aspect of life.
Studying smog in the cities is public health. Gang intervention is public health. Biomedical research funded by the federal government is public health. Yet, there are still many health concerns that need professional intervention. The growing threats from our environment, the resurgence of infectious diseases, increases violence, an aging population and the escalating costs of health care- all are immediate concerns for public health officials.
Public health professionals:
- monitor and evaluate the health needs of entire communities
- promote health practices and behaviors
- work to identify and eliminate environmental hazards to assure that our populations remain healthy.
They are employed by:
- government and social agencies
- managed care companies
- hospitals and health systems
- universities
They are:
- biostatisticians
- community health educators
- environmentalists
- environmental and occupational health specialists
- epidemiologists
- health administrators
- mental health specialists
- nurses
- nutritionists
- physicians
- social scientists
Without public health, our society could not advance. With it, we are making an amazing difference.
UNT Health Science Center faculty, students and staff are committed to providing the highest quality of practice-based public health education and research, meeting the needs of the working professional, and assuring that the state and nation address the public health needs of the today s diverse populations.
The Association of Schools of Public Health has a great page describing what public health is about.
This page last updated Aug 17, 2007
