Public health
hidePublic health is "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." (1920, C.E.A. Winslow)[citation needed] 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 is typically divided into epidemiology, biostatistics and health services. Environmental, social, behavioral, and occupational health are also important subfields.
There are 2 distinct characteristics of public health:
1. It deals with preventive rather than curative aspects of health 2. It deals with population-level, rather than individual-level health issues
The focus of public health intervention is to prevent rather than treat a disease through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors. In addition to these activities, in many cases treating a disease may be vital to preventing it in others, such as during an outbreak of an infectious disease. Hand washing, vaccination programs and distribution of condoms are examples of public health measures.
The goal of public health is to improve lives through the prevention and treatment of disease. The United Nations' World Health Organization defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
For more information about Public health, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with public health
'Outbreaks Near Me' app now available for Android mobile phones
7 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- "Outbreaks Near Me," an up-to-the-minute disease-tracking system released as an iPhone application in September, is now available for use on Android mobile phones, greatly increasing the number of people ...
Wide Disparities Found in Age of Hospitalization for Patients of Different Races
6 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New research from Yale School of Public Health shows that blacks are admitted to the hospital at a significantly younger age than their white peers for a host of preventable medical conditions, ...
Investigators identify successful weight control strategies for adolescents
17 hours ago |
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Adolescent obesity is a major public health problem that impacts one out of every three children, resulting in 4-5 million overweight youth in the United States. In a study published in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of ...
Search results for public health
Preterm births higher among deprived mothers, despite equal care
4 hours ago |
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Despite improvements in obstetric care services, women from deprived areas are still more likely to give birth to a very preterm baby compared with mothers from more affluent areas, finds a study published on bmj.com today.
Chubby hubby is common, but ethnicity matters
5 hours ago |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study helps untangle how marriage, gender and ethnicity are related to body weight. The study of almost 8,000 men and women will be published in the journal Obesity.
Ethnic pride key to black teen mental health
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
8 hours ago |
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Ethnic pride may be as important as self-esteem to the mental health of young African-American adolescents, according to a new study in the Nov/Dec issue of the journal Child Development.
Improving female reproductive health and empowerment through control of NTDs
8 hours ago |
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Controlling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in developing countries would help improve the reproductive health and rights of girls and women in the poorest countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, according ...
Media execs make case for online fees at FTC panel
10 hours ago |
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(AP) -- Media companies need to deliver compelling information on a variety of electronic devices and overcome readers' resistance to paying for material online, news executives said Tuesday at a government-sponsored ...
Can heart disease treatments combat AMD?
12 hours ago |
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Can treatments that reduce risks for cardiovascular disease (CVD) also help combat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), an eye disease that affects millions of Americans? CVD and AMD share some risk factors-such as smoking, ...
Tuberculosis: On the path to prevention
12 hours ago |
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Why do some people who are exposed to tuberculosis not become infected or develop the disease? Dr. Erwin Schurr and his team at the Research Institute from the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), in collaboration with ...
More than 1,000 patients in US admitted annually for aviation-related injuries
17 hours ago |
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The first ever published study of aviation-related injuries and deaths in the U.S. finds that more than 1,013 patients are admitted to U.S. hospitals with aviation-related injuries annually, and that 753 aviation-deaths occur ...
Ambulatory surgical centers may exceed performance of hospitals for certain procedures
17 hours ago |
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Measuring five quality-base performance areas, an ambulatory surgical center out performed a standard hospital based surgical center in otolaryngic surgeries, according to new research in the December 2009 issue of Otolaryngology - ...
Overweight children may develop back pain and spinal abnormalities
18 hours ago |
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Being overweight as a child could lead to early degeneration in the spine, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
List of search results for public health
