What is Public Health?
It is a complicated term that nobody uses and aware of it. Yet, it is a most important area to study if we are talking about any developing and non-developing issue, be it the economy, environment, politics, mental issues, society, media, and things revolving around us.
Definitions of Public Health:
According to WHO (1988), It refers to both general and private organizations measures to prevent disease, promoting-health, and prolonging life among the country as a whole. Thus the services include provisions of individuals, such as vaccination, behavioral counseling, or healthcare advice.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), It is a system or department or government responsibility. In contrast, all public, private, and non-governmental entities contribute to providing essential services of it with authority.
Besides, John H. Bryant (2020) added detailed roles of this health plays in the definition given by WHO. It also promotes mental health, sanitation, personal hygiene, control of infectious diseases, and availability of the services where community action plays a vital role in achieving the goals.
William C. Shiel Jr (2018) said, “Public Health is Community wellbeing.” According to him, seeking healthcare service is required some of the time, whereas strengthening its services is vital to us all the time.
Every country or community has its own needs to fulfill depending on an individual level to environmental crises. Thus, it aims to assure health as a whole of the state/country/Nation, and these are the three core functions plays by this system:
- In-depth research, monitoring, and evaluation to identify prevailing health problems to priorities the services, for instance, water sanitation in one community and polio facilities in another country.
- On the basis of M&E, policymakers design the program to fulfill the needs, such as a family planning program to eradicate poverty.
- After analyzing and reforming policies, it is important to ensure that each and every individual has access to get the service. Therefore, The experts study the mind of community people to make the service adaptable, approachable, and affordable, and accessible to them.
According to the book review (Risk communication and health (public), 1999) of ENRIQUE PERDIGUERO (2001), It is like a big umbrella containing interdisciplinary fields. For instance:
- Social Science,
- Epidemiology,
- Biostatistics,
- Public policy study
- Mental Health
- Health economics
- Study of behavioral health
- Community health
- Health education
- Gender issues
- Disability
- Sexual and Reproductive health
- The scientific study of Pandemic
Therefore, being an expert is about to be aware of all the importance of these studies before implementing and approaching any new policy and program.
Conclusion
Public health is like the backbone of a nation, and it must be strong and flexible to uplift the nation. Moreover, sub-fields of study support the implementation of an adequate policy program. Medical Health, Mental or physical health is ephemeral, whereas it is inseparable. And it is a human right to get proper services in terms of vaccination, sanitation, prevention from diseases, and Pandemic like Covid 19.
References:
- Bryant, J. and Rhodes, P., 2020. Public _Health. [online] Britannica. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/public-health
- MedicineNet. 2018. Definition Of Public _Health. [online] Available at: https://www.medicinenet.com/public_health/definition.htm
- 2008. Encyclopedia of Public_Health.
- PERDIGUERO, E., 2001. Anthropology in public_health. Bridging differences in culture and society. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 55(7), pp.528b-528.
- Greer, S. and Health, J., 2021. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Available at: https://www.jhsph.edu/about/what-is-public-health/
- En.wikipedia.org. 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_health#cite_note-4
- Euro.who.int. 2021. Public Health Services. [online] Available at: https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/Health-systems/public-health-services/public-health-services
- Apha.org. 2021. [online] Available at https://www.apha.org/what-is-public-health