What is Public Health??

 Impact of Public Health

People healthy and saving lives. For example, in the United States,   between 1900 to1999, people’s life  expectancy has increased by over 30 years… 

Did you know that 25 of these “extra years”  gained are due to public health interventions?! 

So , we are going to  take a look at what public health is,  how it is different to clinical medicine, who  is responsible for doing it and how it’s done!  First of all…let’s have a  look at what “health” is. 

What is Health

The World Health Organization defines  health as “a state of complete physical,   mental and social well-being rather than  a mere absence of disease or infirmity.” 

This is a pretty bold and ambitious definition  that prompts people to look beyond diseases and  
focus not only on the physical aspect of health  but also the mental and social aspects as well. .and public health?? Well…..public health is the science and art of  

preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting  health through the organized efforts of society. 

 so how is different to clinical medicine??? Let’s take a look at an example.  Let’s say someone has an  accident and has a broken leg.  A clinician’s main focus is the immediate  health problem……..fixing the fractured leg.  Clinicians focus on the individual.. The public health approach would be holistic   and would focus on figuring out how and why this  person had an accident so that actions can be   taken to prevent it from happening again. For example: 

Why did he have the accident? Was there a problem with his vision? 

Was it a poor knowledge of driving  skills or bad attitudes towards driving?  Was he under the influence of  alcohol or drugs when he was driving?  Are there laws against this  and resources to enforce it?  What are the community expectations  or attitudes towards driving?  Does he have a good social support  network that will help in his recovery   or prevent this from happening again? Was the road he was driving in safe?  Was he driving a safe car  that was well maintained?  If not, why not? Could he not afford it?  If not, why could he not afford it? Does he have a job that doesn’t pay well?  Why is that? Is it because  

he did not have access to good education? Was there good access to health services which   would determine his treatment and recovery? As you can see from this example, health is   determined by a complex interaction between many  different factors, or determinants of health.  These include individual characteristics,  lifestyles and behavior's and also the   physical, social and economic environments…. These are called the social determinants of health 

…In order to make a difference  in health, there is action needed   across all the different determinants. Public health focuses on these upstream  factors to make changes that can benefit  the health of the population as a whole. 

This seems like a very broad  and complex task doesn’t it?? 

So…who is responsible for public health? Ultimately, the responsibility of creating   Whos Responsible a healthy community rests  with all sectors of society.  Health departments do have a central role in  public health…..however, improving the health   of a population requires the coordinated  efforts of a broad range of stakeholders.  This includes other areas of  government, the private sector,  Non-Governmental Organizations, International  Organizations and communities to name a few all united with a shared goal of  improving the health of the public.. 

Now let’s have a look at  how public health works

How Public Health Works

The World Federation of Public  Health Associations has developed  a useful framework to understand  how public health is delivered. There are three core service areas of  public health and a group of enablers  that ensure that these services can  occur effectively and efficiently. 

The three core areas of public health  are: Protection, Promotion and Prevention. 

Protection is about protecting  the health of the population.  This includes the control of infectious diseases,  managing environmental hazards, ensuring a healthy  workplace and managing health emergencies

 Promotion is about improving the  health of the population. It covers a broad range of  activities that not only focuses on  the individual like promoting health  behavior's over a life course. It also focuses  on improving the social-determinants of health. 

Prevention is about preventing health issues  before they occur. It includes activities  such as vaccination and screening. To enable these core areas to function  there needs to be: Good Governance Advocacy to influence and obtain support and  commitment for actions that support a health goal. 

Capacity  having an adequate, well-trained  and supported public health workforce.  And having accurate, timely information to  support health actions such as relevant research,  surveillance, monitoring and evaluation.