PUBLIC HEALTH DEFINED

According to Whatispublichealth.org, “Public Health is the science of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles and research for disease and injury prevention. Public health professionals analyze the effect of genetics, personal choice and the environment on health in order to develop programs that protect your family and community.
 
“Overall, public health is concerned with protecting the health of entire populations.  These populations can be as small as a local neighborhood, or as big as an entire country."

The goal of public health professionals is to prevent problems from happening or re-occurring through implementing educational programs, developing policies, administering services and conducting research.  That compares with clinical professionals whose main focus is on treating people after they are already sick or injured.        
  
Public health has been credited with improving the quality of life in the 20th century.  Many of the health care achievements of the 20th century can be credited to public health, including an increase in life expectancy, reduction of infant and child mortality and the reduction or elimination of many communicable diseases.