Public Health - Infectious Diseases New York

Public Health - Infectious Diseases New York
Co-Editor-in-Chief, Tracy E. Austin, MD
Tuesday, January 12, 2010 - 07:01 PM


Medicine for the Masses

Many people forget about public health until there’s and outbreak, like the rise of H1N1 virus (or Swine Flu). Public health is a field of medicine that operates in areas other than infectious disease, and long before an epidemic takes hold.

Public Health, in fact, includes the “protection and improvement” of overall health of the masses. Historically, public health has concentrated on communicable diseases, hygiene, and prevention of epidemics. The discipline has expanded over the years to encompass chronic disease prevention, community-based health studies and programs, and effective health promotion.

Disease

Public health officials must stay on top of all new and recurring outbreaks. This includes not only communicable diseases, but also hereditary and lifestyle diseases, like many cancers and heart disease. Much of their time is spent in overseeing the search for cures, treatments and improving diagnostic processes and equipment. Prevention and eradication are the ultimate goals, but the road to either is long and winding.

The tools that public health officials use to track outbreaks and the evolution of new disease are also very important. Tools like the World Health Organization’s Geographic Information Systems help accomplish this.

Communal Health

On a community level, the local health department serves the same purpose. They track disease, but also provide things like testing kits, prophylactics, and education on nutrition, reproduction and development. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sees to the health of all Americans, regardless of income status. They continue to redefine public health through their programs.

Pooling talents
HHS does not work alone. It coops resources and manpower from other government agencies in order to oversee the health of the American public. For example, although the local HHS houses the WIC program, or the Special Supplemental Nutritional Program for Women, Infant and Children, the U.S. Department of Agriculture runs it.

The program ensures that pregnant or breastfeeding women and their children under the age of five receive the proper nutrition needed for development. The program wouldn’t be possible without the HHS organization and administration. It also must have the Department of Agriculture’s access to the American food supply.

Public and Private Partnerships

The pooling of government resources isn’t the only way that public health operates. Public and private entities have been cooperating for a long time on public health issues. This statement seems contrary to recent news over the battle of public and private health insurance and a national health care plan. However, in the realm of public health research, the partnership between the public and private entities has flourished.

Both sectors have realized the need to provide affordable medicines for the public, for example. As a result, private companies like Eli Lilly are contributing to government research and vice versa. One such collaboration with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention resulted in a Training Program in the field of infectious disease.

Educating the Masses

That brings us to another realm of public health—education and training. Many public health experts have recognized the need to educate that public in order to better the wellbeing of the entire population. This goes beyond training up the next CDC president. It involves
Updates on next outbreak,
Informational campaigns for new drugs and vaccines,
Sex education to prevent teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted disease,
Screenings and checklists for diseases like diabetes, depression and heart disease,
Awareness programs for prenatal care, family fitness and more.

Public health education is especially important to those in developing countries and even the rural areas of the United States. In these areas, access to information, adequate health care, and the means to pay for that care is limited. By educating the public in these areas, the governments can prevent infectious disease outbreaks and an increase in deaths from lifestyle diseases that are usually spotted and treated by programs more readily available in urban, developed and middle to high income areas.

Low-income families are especially targeted by public health education programs. The group’s inability to afford much more than shelter and food puts them at risk for many health issues. Their living conditions also increase the risk of spread of infectious disease. By educating this group, public health officials can change many of the habits that lead to lifestyle diseases. They can empower this population by arming them with the tools to not only prevent, but to detect, health issues before they become deadly.

Awareness

Awareness is the key to making public health work. When patients become aware of their illness, possible treatment/cures and prevention, staying healthy becomes a possibility. It is this awareness that allows people in areas where health care is limited to seek out the correct means of handling their symptoms or illness. Awareness allows the people to take charge of their individual health, translating into an overall improvement in public health. For referenced resourced information, go to http://www.smilemd.com/public-health/infectious-diseases-and-public-health.aspx