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
Choosing a Low Radiation Cell Phone
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Sep 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- An Environmental Working Group (EWG) team has released a consumer guide on the radiation levels emitted by over 1,000 cell phones sold in the U.S. The guide is the most comprehensive ever ...
Got ear plugs? You may want to sport them on the subway and other mass transit
Jun 19, 2009 |
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The U.S. mass transit system, the largest in the world, provides affordable and efficient transportation to more than 33 million riders each weekday. The system is generally considered one of the safest modes of travel. But ...
Predicting and tracking pandemics: HealthMap.org tracking H1N1 flu hot spots in real time
Apr 30, 2009 |
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At the end of July 2008, major news agencies reported an outbreak of jalapeño-related salmonella that sickened more than 1,000 people in Mexico and the United States. It was the biggest outbreak of its kind ...
Canada confirms 4 swine flu cases among students
Apr 26, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Canada became the third country to confirm human cases of swine flu Sunday as global health officials considered whether to raise the global pandemic alert level.
Therapy 32 times more cost effective at increasing happiness than money
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 20, 2009 |
2.8 / 5 (6) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Research by the University of Warwick and the University of Manchester finds that psychological therapy could be 32 times more cost effective at making you happy than simply obtaining more money. The research ...
Study raises concerns about outdoor second-hand smoke
Nov 18, 2009 |
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Indoor smoking bans have forced smokers at bars and restaurants onto outdoor patios, but a new University of Georgia study in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that these outdoor smoking ...
Scientists put interactive flu tracking at public's fingertips
Nov 16, 2009 |
2 / 5 (4) |
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New methods of studying avian influenza strains and visually mapping their movement around the world will help scientists more quickly learn the behavior of the pandemic H1N1 flu virus, Ohio State University ...
People entering their 60s may have more disabilities today than in prior generations
Nov 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a development that could have significant ramifications for the nation's health care system, Baby Boomers may well be entering their 60s suffering far more disabilities than their counterparts did in previous ...
Good food nation: Researchers think America's obesity epidemic can be reversed via 'foodsheds'
Nov 10, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the last three decades, childhood obesity in the United States has become a massive public-health problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control, between 1980 and 2006 the percentage ...
Lack of insurance may have figured in nearly 17,000 childhood deaths, study shows
Oct 29, 2009 |
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Lack of health insurance might have led or contributed to nearly 17,000 deaths among hospitalized children in the United States in the span of less than two decades, according to research led by the Johns Hopkins Children's ...
Protection or Peril? Gun Possession of Questionable Value in an Assault
Sep 30, 2009 |
2.8 / 5 (25) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In a first-of its-kind study, epidemiologists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found that, on average, guns did not protect those who possessed them from being shot in an assault. The ...
Obesity in middle aged women cuts chance of a long, healthy life by 80 percent
Sep 30, 2009 |
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A new study by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) researchers has found that, among a large study population of women who lived until at least age 70, being overweight in mid-life ...
Most would refuse emergency use H1N1 vaccine or additive
Sep 29, 2009 |
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A majority of Americans would not take an H1N1 flu vaccine or drug additive authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and University ...
Teens with own cars have more crashes, study finds
Sep 25, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Parents beware: Giving in to teens' demands for their own cars can have dangerous consequences, new research suggests.
New links among alcohol abuse, depression, obesity in young women found
Sep 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- There is new evidence that depression, obesity and alcohol abuse or dependency are interrelated conditions among young adult women but not men.
