Ever thought about what Public Health is? Read here

When we speak about health, we generally have the habit of talking about it on a personal level. But we should be mindful of the fact that there is something called PUBLIC HEALTH, which makes a significant impact on the health of the population as a whole.

The main aspects of public health are to improve the health of the population, making people healthy, and save many lives. Public health can be defined as a science and art of preventing diseases, prolonged life and promoting health through the organized efforts of society.

In clinical medicine or medication, the clinician principally focuses on the treatment of the health issue, focusing on the individual. But public health will take a holistic approach and focus on the cause of the illness or health issue. It checks the community attitudes and expectations towards the subject.

The health of an individual depends on various factors like individual characteristic, lifestyle and behaviour, including the society where he lives. Public health focuses on the upstream components that can benefit the health of the people as a whole.

The response comes from all the sectors of the society, health departments, coordinated efforts of other stakeholders, areas of government, private sector, NGO.

The World Federation of Public Health Association has three core service areas-

Public health is a crucial factor behind the upliftment of a community, state, country, and the world as a whole.

A) Protection- To protect the health of the population. Includes control of infectious diseases, managing environmental hazards and maintaining a healthy work environment.

B) Promotion- It can be done at an individual level to promote health behaviours, improving social determinants of health.

C) Prevention-prevention of disease or epidemic before it occurs, which is possible through vaccination and screening.

Proper advocacy is primarily necessary to check the implementation of the programmes, support and commitment.

A capacity of adequate and timely health care, the trained unit is essential, along with timely information to support health actions, evaluation and monitoring.

Public health is a crucial factor behind the upliftment of a community, state, country and the world as a whole.