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What is Public Health?

 
What Should I Know about Public Health?

Public health impacts everyone’s life every single day. Public health keeps our food safe and our water clean, prevents the spread of disease, and promotes healthy lifestyles and habits. 

 
Watch the video below to see what public health does for everyone! The video may take several minutes to load. (Having trouble viewing the video? Visit the site directly by going to  www.generationpublichealth.org)

This is What Public Health Does


What is Public Health?

“Public Health is the science of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention. “ -www.whatispublichealth.org

Other Important definitions:

Health: "A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."1

 
Local Public Health System: "The collection of public, private and voluntary entities, as well as individuals and informal associations, that contribute to the public’s health within a jurisdiction. All entities that contribute to the health of the public."2 These include: 
  • Health departments
  • Physicians
  • Hospitals
  • Mental health providers
  • Civic organizations
  • Corrections
  • Non-profits
  • Businesses
 

1. Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19-22 June, 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948.

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Public Health Performance Standards Program Glossary. Retrieved March 25, 2008 from http://www.cdc.gov/od/ocphp/nphpsp/PDF/Glossary.pdf.