O VERVIEW OF C OMMUNITY M EDICINE S COPE AND H ISTORY

There are many approaches for studying health and diseases: Basic sciences: such as physiology, biochemistry, microbiology... etc Clinical sciences: these are carried in clinical settings for diagnosis and treatment. Population sciences: these are sciences that study the population in the community Tuberculosis provides a good illustration of these approaches. The basic sciences (microbiology) study the TB bacilli. The clinical sciences deal with the diagnostic and curative aspects. The population sciences study the pattern and determinants of TB among the population to outline programs for prevention and control of TB. All these approaches are integrated. The population science was referred as hygiene, preventive medicine, public health, community medicine and family medicine.

H YGIENE : Hygiene is defined as "the science of health" and it includes all factors which contribute to healthful living

P REVENTIVE MEDICINE : Preventive medicine dates back to the 18 th century. Even before the discovery of the causative agents, some diseases could be prevented by the intake of fresh fruits and vegetables such as scurvy. After discovery of microbes as the causative agents of diseases, it became possible to prevent and control these diseases through simulation of the immune response of the host by administration of different antigens, examples: introduction of rabies vaccine, cholera vaccine, diphtheria antitoxins as preventive measures for those diseases. Further advances in the knowledge about the different mode of transmission of diseases made it possible to control the diseases by blocking the channels of transmission such as water purification, milk pasteurization, proper disposal of sewage, destruction of insects and disinfections.

In the beginning, preventive medicine was equated with the control of infectious diseases. With the control of acute infectious diseases, the so-called modern diseases or man -made diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, mental illness and accidents came into prominence and have become the leading causes of death in industrialized countries.

H ENCE PREVENTIVE MEDICINE IS DEFINED AS "The art and science of health promotion, disease prevention, disability limitation and rehabilitation"

P UBLIC HEALTH : The term" public health" came into general use around As a result of improvement of health and changes in the pattern of health problems, many definitions of public heath were introduced. With the adoption of the goal of" Health for All" a modern public health is now evident world wide, which is

P UBLIC HEALTH "The organized application of all resources (local, state, national, international) to achieve Health for All goal i.e. attainment by people of the world by the year 2000 of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life)"

FINALLY Terms like preventive medicine and community medicine are used as synonyms for public health.

C OMMUNITY MEDICINE : Community medicine is successor of what has been previously known as public health, and preventive medicine. Since problems vary from country to country, each country should formulate its own definition of community medicine in the light of its traditions; geography and resources. Community medicine is defined as

C OMMUNITY MEDICINE : It is the study of health and diseases in the population of a defined community or group. It `s goal is to identify the health problems and needs of a defined population (community diagnosis) and to plan, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of health care to meet these needs.

The diagnosis of the health state of the community and the identification of the health problems are considered as an important core of community medicine.

F AMILY M EDICINE Family medicine has been emerged after rediscovery of human, social, and cultural aspects of health and diseases and of recognition of family as a focal point of health care. Family medicine has been defined as:

F AMILY M EDICINE " A field of specialization in medicine which is neither disease nor organ oriented. It is family oriented medicine or health care centered on the family as the unit from first contact to the ongoing care of chronic problems (from prevention to rehabilitation)