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Public Health in Action
The definition of public healthThe mission of public health was addressed in detail by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in1988 in its landmark report, The Future of Public Health . The IOM Committee for the Study of the Future of Public Health defined the mission of public health as "fulfilling society's interest in assuring conditions in which people can be healthy." more ... Women's Health
Disparities in Health
Reproductive Health
Violence Against Women
... continued from top Public health in action Today's major health care problems are increasingly the result of chronic and acute conditions related to individual behavior. According to Healthy People 2010, individual behaviors and environmental factors are responsible for about 70 percent of all premature deaths in the United States. The development of coronary artery disease and many cancers are related to lifestyle behaviors such as smoking, not exercising, and eating unhealthy diets. Other behavior-related health problems include the majority of sexually transmitted diseases and injuries. While mortality from some of these conditions is decreasing, morbidity from most chronic diseases continues to increase. Healthy People 2010 states that over the years, it has become clear that individual health is closely linked to community health-the health of the community and environment in which individuals live, work, and play. Likewise, community health is profoundly affected by the collective beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of everyone who lives in the community. Indeed, the underlying premise of Healthy People 2010 is that the health of the individual is almost inseparable from the health of the larger community and that the health of every community in every State and territory determines the overall health status of the Nation. That is why the vision for Healthy People 2010 is "Healthy People in Healthy Communities." Public health programs address the physical, mental, and environmental health concerns of communities and populations at risk for disease and injury. Major tasks of public health agencies today include collecting, analyzing and disseminating statistical data related to health and disease; developing and carrying out strategies for disease and injury prevention and control; controlling environmental hazards, and educating the public. Public health efforts are carried out by government and non-government agencies at national, state, and local levels, and programs often involve collaborative partnerships between public and private agencies. A variety of health professionals work in public health, including physicians, nurses, dentists, health educators, administrators, environmental health specialists, nutritionists, epidemiologists, statisticians, and others. Public health and women's health Important public health initiatives in the United States addressing women's health include a long history of maternal and child health programs at all levels of government. These programs offer services and educational programs designed to reduce maternal and infant deaths, promote good reproductive outcomes, and promote the health of mothers and children. There are specific national health objectives for women included in the national Healthy People 2010 goals. Other public health programs are targeted to specific populations such as girls age 9-14 (the Girlpower program [www.girlpower.gov]) or to women with-or at risk of-certain diseases or conditions such as breast cancer. The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Women's Health, the National Institutes of Health's Office of Research on Women's Health, and other women's health offices within other Federal health agencies have played major roles in focusing attention on public health issues affecting women. Recently national health policy makers have begun to focus on the special health needs of subgroups of women including lesbians. Healthy People 2010, the nation's public health agenda for the current decade, includes the goal of eliminating disparities in health among all segments of the population, including differences that occur by gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation. |
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Last Updated: February 2004
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