1. 10
The Public Health System:
The Government’s Role

2. Objectives
Define the concept of public health and give examples of public health activities.
Explain the role of government in public health.
List two or more national (federal) public health agencies.
Explain the role of boards of public health and licensing/regulatory boards.

3. Objectives (cont.)
Describe at least one major government initiative to protect the public’s health.
Identify the key reporting obligations that health professionals are mandated to uphold.

4. What Is Public Health? Being healthy is more than just not being sick.
It is a state of well-being in our bodies, our minds, and our lives.
Public health is the well-being of everyone in neighborhoods, communities, states, and countries.
The goal of public health is to protect the community from the hazards of group life.

5. What is Public Health? (cont.)
Curative medical care focuses on making us feel better when we are already ill.
Public health focuses on prevention efforts to keep us from getting sick in the first place.
Public health impacts policies and laws and helps promote well-being on a societal and often global level.

6. The History of Public Health
Recorded 4,000 years ago in India and in the classical era of the Greek and Roman civilizations.
Quarantine was instituted in the Middle Ages.

7. The History of Public Health (cont.)
1700s and 1800s in the U.S.
Creation of boards of health for containing disease
Setting sanitary standards
Protecting from diseases (infectious)
Health departments began in Massachusetts
Seamen taxed to provide care

11. The History of Public Health (cont.)
By 1900, there were 40 state health departments.
Today, every state has a health department and a public health laboratory.

12. Key Public Health Functions
Three key functions of public health:
Assessment of the health of the community
Policy development
Assurance of the public health

13. Key Public Health Functions (cont.)
Assessment: determining the health needs of the community
Policy development: the collective decision about what actions are most appropriate for the health of the state or nation
Assurance: making sure the necessary actions are actually taken

14. Key Public Health Functions (cont.)
Epidemiology: the study of the history of a disease and its distribution throughout a society
Epidemiologists: investigate where a disease outbreak occurred, who it affected, and how and when

15. Key Public Health Functions (cont.)
In public health, surveillance refers to the continuous search for and documentation of disease
Monitoring: the use of surveillance data to determine changes in the number of infected persons

17. Key Public Health Functions (cont.)
State health departments are required by law to report on cases of specific diseases or conditions.
As of 2009, 72 diseases had to be reported at the national level.

18. Role of Government in Public Health
Federal government has the ability to tax people to provide for the “general welfare”.
The federal government has the ability to regulate commerce.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is the U.S. government’s principal department protecting the health of the nation.

19. Role of Government in Public Health (cont.)
Key Agencies:
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

20. Role of Government in Public Health (cont.)
At the state level, there are two kinds of public health bodies:
Boards of health
State health departments
Boards of health are the policymaking bodies.
State health departments promote the public’s health and implement public health laws.

21. Role of Government in Public Health (cont.)
Two models of a state health department:
A freestanding agency that reports directly to the state governor
Part of a larger institution, such as the state’s Department of Health and Human Services

22. Role of Government in Public Health (cont.)
State Health Departments
Licensing and regulatory boards help protect the public’s health by basic standards of care, cleanliness, and safety
Local health departments serve an individual county, city, or region

23. Other Public Health Partners
Organizations like the Red Cross, March of Dimes, and the American Cancer Society play an important role.
Foundations are not-for-profit organizations that raise money in support of their programs.
Community-based organizations often go directly to the person needing services.

24. Past Successes and Future Challenges
Achievements:
Vaccination
Safer workplaces
Healthier mothers and babies
Control of infectious diseases
Coronary heart disease and stroke prevention programs
Safer and healthier foods

25. Past Successes and Future Challenges (cont.)
Achievements: (cont.)
Family planning
Motor vehicle safety
Fluoridation of drinking water
Recognition of tobacco as a health hazard

26. Past Successes and Future Challenges (cont.)
Public Health Challenges
Changing patterns of disease
Increasing numbers of chronic conditions
New and emerging infections
Injuries
Violence
Curable genetic diseases