Do You Know These Things About Public Health?

Table of Contents

What is Public Health?

Public Health is defined as “the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts of society” (Acheson, 1988; WHO).
Public health activities help to build up public health capabilities and services aim to provide environments under which people can keep up to be healthy, improve their health and well-being.

Functions of Public Health:

Assessment
- Assess the health needs of the community.
- Investigate the occurrence of health effects and health hazards in the community.
- Analyze the determinants of identified health needs.
Policy development
- Advocate for public health and identify resources in the community
- Prioritize health needs
- Plan and develop policies to address health needs
Assurance
- Manage resources
- Implement programs that fit the community priorities
- Evaluate the program and provide quality assurance
- Inform and educate the public
To focus on the health of people/community as a whole rather than the health of an individual.
To mobilize local, national and international resources to guarantee safe environments for the people well-being.
To identify monitor, and anticipate community health needs.
To formulate and enforce essential health policies.
To improve new methodologies for research and evaluation.
To train and ensure a competent public health workforce.
To carry out/publish research and scientific articles focused on improving lives of people.

Scope and Opportunities of Public Health:

According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, there are varieties of career options/scope in the field of public health. They are;

As we can find microbiologists working to find a vaccine for Ebola, malaria
Behavioral scientists exploring ways to discourage populations from smoking
An epidemiologist trying to identify megatrends in health and illness
Formulating interventions and strategies to combat HIV/AIDS, TB, and infant mortality. In the contrary, all of the health staffs working for public well-being comes under public health.

However, more scope/field one can pursue as a professional in public health are:

Biostatistics
- The UNC Gillings School of Public Health describes Biostatistics as a field, which involves the development and application of statistical science to human health and disease where data analysis helps to determine the prevalence and incidence of diseases along with the cause of illness, identify health trends in communities, analyze risk factors, and plan interventions.
Environmental Sciences
- According to the Harvard School of Public Health, there is a need for careful research and training in environmental health. This highlights the role of air, water, the artificial environment, and the workplace, as critical determinants in human health on a global scale.

Epidemiology
- The School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, states that one of the major missions of an epidemiologist is to study the risk of disease associated with inherent, acquired, social, and environmental factors, and by the development and application of methods to alleviate that risk.
Health policy and management
- Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health states that this area will see the emergence of public health leaders through education, research, and service programs. The public health leaders can rise to professional positions in the complex and changing healthcare environment. They can help to produce a more equitable and more efficient health system on a global scale.

Maternal and Child Health
- The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that neonatal mortality accounts for almost 40 percent of the estimated 9.7 million children under-five deaths. A common factor in these deaths is the health of the mother. Therefore, the main goal of public health the field of maternal and child health would be to promote and protect the health and well-being of women, newborns, and their families.

Nutrition Sciences
- The University of Washington, School of Public Health says that as a public health nutritionist one can explore many professional channels. These include nutrition-centered health promotion, disease prevention, design and management of community-wide nutrition programs. Clinical dietetics and private sector practice.

Additional Opportunities for Public Health Graduates are:

A career in public health opens the door to diverse opportunities in a variety of sectors such as central, private and non-governmental organizations. With the degree in the relevant field of public health, it results employment opportunities such as:
- Biostatistician
- Health care administrator
- Epidemiologist
- Doctorate degree holders
- Environmental scientists
- Health and safety engineer

According to the data gathered from the Bureau of Labor statistics and combined with US Census Bureau data (2019) the average salary in public health occupation is:

Why is Public Health Necessary Today and In The Future?

Public Health is necessary today because:

Public health has a sustainable positive effect on the health of the people.
It encourages for the promotion of a healthy environment.
Public health is a moral and ethical imperative
Public Health programs have led to increase in life expectancy.
It has helped to reduce poverty, hunger, child and infant mortality globally
Public Health has vast knowledge on the reduction of many communicable diseases, road traffic accident and non-communicable diseases from every perspective.
In the future, clinical medicine costs could rise without substantial improvement in health outcomes.
Likewise, the climate change and global warming lead to develop various epidemic and endemic disease all over the world that the public health field may not be able to keep pace with such challenging risks and the opposite parties of public health actions might take advantages of it.
Therefore, in future by collaboration with clinical medicine, governmental agencies, health organizations, private sector, and communities, which is very important for public health success and progress, it will benefit every people from a health perspective.

Advantages and Limitations of Public Health:

Advantages	Limitations
Public Health focuses on the overall health of the public.	Public health does not focus on individual health.
Public Health professionals are respected for their work and contribution to the community.	Responsibilities that come along with respects regarding work can be stressful at times.
Public health has a good scope of career growth.	It is quite a challenging profession.
Increased health care spending on the public is aimed to improve the quality of health care services that result to decrease in medical care expenses.	Raising health care spending could lead to slow economic growth and employment.
At a local level, healthcare spending creates employment opportunities and increases wages for health care specialists and increases demand for related goods and services.	Public health spending places an economic burden upon citizens to finance the spending inform of increased taxes and increased long-term borrowing.