What Is Public Health?

What is public health?

The goal of public health is to

• Maximize the health of the population
• Eliminate health disparities

Who were the funcitons, services, and infrastrcutres that were involved with COVID-19?

• Researchers
• Monitors
• Data analysts
• WHO
• Federal government, executive branch
• State government: governors make mandates, allocate resources, and keep public infomred
• Local government: create mandates, establish vaccination clinics, and assist people.
• Government agencies (CDC) develop and communicate guidelines, collect and share data, advise policy makers, fund research
• Foundations like Gates foundation, Bloomberg Philantrophy provide funding
• Healthcare providers
• Red Cross
• Pharmaceutical companies

we care about publi health because

• threats: problems like AIDS and toxic waste
• solve capacity:increase quality of life through food inspection, quality control, immunization, which all prevented deaths.

The definition of public health is complicated and different to other people.

• what is the goal: the fulfillment of society's interest in assuring the conditions in which people can be healthy.
  • "public" being the focus is on the socity as a whole, not focused just on the outcome of isolated individual efforts as it involves organized community effort.
  • "health" has the WHO definition: "a state of complete well-being, physical, social, and mental, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
• who is the subject matter, or substance of public health is: organized community efforts aimed at the prevention of disease and promotion of health. It links many disciplines and rests upon the scientific core of epidemiology.
• how is "public health" different from "what public health agencies do.". The organizational framework of public health to encompass both activities undertaken within the formal structure of government and the associated efforts of private and voluntary organizations and individuals

The role of govenrment:

• ensures the basic means to the good life are available, but refrains from specifying what the ocntent of that life should be., except to prevent them from infringing on the rights of others.
• They have three core functions: (1) assessment (2) policy development and (3) assurance , including ovesight responsibility for ensuring an effective health system, including health care and public health, which are in place even though the implementation is performed by other.

Public health is first and foremost a state responsibility.. They can delegate authority to a local health department (home rule). Or, the local health department can be viewed as a branch office with little independent funding (branch rule).

health-care safety net: health departments in the US also serving as the healthcare provider for those without other sources of health care.

Federal public health agencies can come up with requirements for state action in order to qualify for funding

• HHS (human health and services) is the central public health agencies.
  • NIH is within HHS. Has big budget devoted to basic science research and translation of research into clinical practice
• CDC (centers for disease control and prevention) is identified closely to public health. Conducts research and epidemiologic investigations.

There are non govenrmental orgs like american red cross, mothers agianst drunk driving, american cancer association