PUBLIC HEALTH AND

SOCIETY

OSMAN ALI
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

❖ The definition of public health

❖ The public health activities and research

❖ The essential functions of public health

It all starts with the Greeks…

Whoever wishes to investigate medicine

properly, should proceed thus:
 to consider the seasons of the year,
and what effects each of them
produces.
 to consider the qualities of the waters
 the mode in which the inhabitants live
 and what are their pursuits, whether
they are fond of drinking and eating to
excess or are fond of exercise and
labour, and not given to excess in
eating and drinking.
DEFINITION OF HEALTH
 What is Public health?

Public Health is the science and art of

 preventing disease, prolonging life, and
promoting physical health and efficiency
 through organized community efforts
 for the sanitation of the environment,
 the control of community infections,
 the education of the individual in principles of
personal hygiene,
 the organization of medical and nursing
services for the early diagnosis and
preventive treatment disease.
 and the development of the social machinery.
Winslow in 1923
Source: Yale School of Public Health
 What is Public health?

Public Health is one of the efforts organized by society to

protect, promote, and restore the peoples’ health.

John M. Last’s Dictionary of Public Health (2001)

Public health aims to create the right conditions in

order to provide this state of health for the benefit of
society.
Determinants of health

Barton & Grant (2006): A health map

for the local human habitat. Journal
of the Royal Society for the
Promotion of Health 156: 252-3
 Characteristics of public health

 Population focus rather than services to

individuals
 Emphasising prevention and the determinants of
health and wellbeing
 Focus on social justice: the role of the state and
the need to tackle inequalities in health outcome
and access to health improving resources
 Partnerships with all those who impact on the
health and wellbeing of the population.
CORE FUNCTIONS
“ON THE STATE OF PUBLIC HEALTH”

Falling mortality

180
160
140 Cancer
120

DSR/100,000
100
80
Circulatory
60
disease
40
20
0

1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
 OBESITY DOUBLING IN 10 YEARS

40
35
30
25 OBESITY
OVERWEIGHT
20
15
10
5
0
NHMSII 1996 NHMSIII 2006
PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS – COVID19 PANDEMIC
What Are the Leading and current
Public Health Issues?

 PhysicalActivity
 Overweight and
Obesity
 Tobacco Use
 Substance
Abuse
 Responsible
Sexual Behavior
 Mental Health
 Injury and
Violence
 Environmental
Quality – climate
change
 Immunization
 Access to Health
Care
THANK
YOU