Transcript Public Health - Colin Mayfield

Public Health
Colin Mayfield 2012
Public Health 2
Public Health
Definition of Public Health 1:
• The approach to medicine that is concerned with the health of the
community as a whole. Public health is community health. It has been
said that: "Health care is vital to all of us some of the time, but public
health is vital to all of us all of the time."
• The mission of public health is to "fulfill society's interest in assuring
conditions in which people can be healthy." The three core public health
functions are:
– The assessment and monitoring of the health of communities and
populations at risk to identify health problems and priorities;
– The formulation of public policies designed to solve identified local and
national health problems and priorities;
– To assure that all populations have access to appropriate and cost-effective
care, including health promotion and disease prevention services, and
evaluation of the effectiveness of that care
From: Medicine.net
Public Health 3
Definition of Public Health 2:
1. Public Health is "the science and art of preventing disease,
prolonging life and promoting health through the organised
efforts and informed choices of society, organisations,
public and private, communities and individuals." It is
concerned with threats to the overall health of a community
based on population health analysis. The population in
question can be as small as a handful of people or as large
as all the inhabitants of several continents (for instance, in
the case of a pandemic). Public health is typically divided
into epidemiology, biostatistics and health services.
Environmental, social, behavioral, and occupational health
are also important subfields.
2. The focus of public health intervention is to prevent rather than treat a
disease through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy
behaviors. In addition to these activities, in many cases treating a disease
may be vital to preventing it in others, such as during an outbreak of an
infectious disease. Hand washing, vaccination programs and distribution of
condoms are examples of public health measures.
3. The goal of public health is to improve lives through the prevention and
treatment of disease. The United Nations' World Health Organization defines
health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
4. In 1920, C.E.A. Winslow defined public health as "the science and art of
preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the
organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and
private, communities and individuals.“
From: Wikipedia December 28 2008
Public Health 4
In the United Kingdom, public health functions include:
1. Health surveillance, monitoring and analysis
2. Investigation of disease outbreaks, epidemics and risk to health
3. Establishing, designing and managing health promotion and disease
prevention programmes
4. Enabling and empowering communities to promote health and reduce
inequalities
5. Creating and sustaining cross-Government and intersectoral
partnerships to improve health and reduce inequalities
6. Ensuring compliance with regulations and laws to protect and promote
health
7. Developing and maintaining a well-educated and trained, multidisciplinary public health workforce
8. Ensuring the effective performance of NHS services to meet goals in
improving health, preventing disease and reducing inequalities
9. Research, development, evaluation and innovation
10. Quality assuring the public health function
From: Wikipedia December 28 2008
Public Health 5
See also:
•
Wikipedia - Population Health
•
Public Health Agency of Canada
•
Canadian Journal of Public Health
•
Google Books - The Future of Public Health
•
Google Scholar Search for "Public Health" in article titles (first 500
references of 232,000)
•
Google Scholar search for Public Health with "microbiology", "bacteria" or
"microbial" in title (477 references)
Public Health 6
Public Health 7
Public Health 7
Figure illustrates the
individuals and
groups that may
play a role in the
public health
assessment
process.
Overview – Environmental Health - WHO
http://www.who.int/topics/environmental_health/en/
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTHEALTHNUTRITIONANDPOPULATION/EXTPHAAG/0,,enableDHL:TRUE~m
enuPK:64229809~pagePK:64229836~piPK:64229814~theSitePK:672263,00.html
Environmental Health
WHO
Summary:
1. Public Health is viewed differently in Developed and Developing nations:
• Developed - Social Change, education, social engineering,
immunization, etc
• Developing – Hygiene, disease prevention, education, basic changes in
behaviour
2. Funds available are different in Developed and Developing Nations:
(See Details from WHO 1995-2008 – PDF file)
Details of Health
Expenditures by
Country - WHO
http://www.who.int/nha/country/en/
Excel
Spreadsheet
from WHO on
Country
Expenditures
on health
Data fields from Excel Spreadsheets
General government
General government expenditure External resources for health as
Total expenditure on health as
Private expenditure on health as
expenditure
on
health
as
%
of
on health as % of total
% of total expenditure on health
% of Gross domestic product b
% of total expenditure on health
c
total expenditure on health b
government expenditure
Social Security expenditure on
health as % General government
expenditure on health
Out-of-Pocket expenditure as % of
private expenditure on health
Per capita total expenditure on health (PPP int.$)
Private prepaid plans as % of
private expenditure on health
Per capita government expenditure on health at
average exchange rate (US$)
Per capita total expenditure on health at
average exchange rate (US$)
Per capita government expenditure on health
(PPP int.$)
Seems to be an upper boundary on life expectancy no matter how much is spent!
But… quality of life and freedom from disease is directly correlated
with income (and expenditure on health care?)
Why this reversal?
People from High Income Countries have more DALYs than Upper
Middle Income Countries – Why?:
Can take time off for lesser causes (flu, cold, etc)
Live longer and so deteriorate and have more illnesses?
Are insured so can have the luxury of getting medical care?
Diagnostic Systems are better?
Better statistics available?
Better tracking of diseases and time off work?
Are wimps?
All of the above?