Functions of Public Health

Learning Objectives
By the end of the course the student will be
Able
 To understand the core functions of public health
 To understand the 10 Essential Services of Public
Health
 To be able to use the essential services to develop
new solutions to current public health problems

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 Core Functions
Public has three main functions:

 Assessment
 Policy Development
 Assurance

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 Assessment

Every public health agency regularly and systematically collect,

assemble, analyze, and make available information on the health
of the community, including
– statistics on health status,
– community health needs, and
– epidemiological and other studies of health problems.

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 Assessment

• Monitor health status to identify community health problems

• Diagnose and investigate health problems and health hazards
in the community
• Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of personal
and population-based health services

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 Policy Development
 Every public health agency exercise its responsibility to serve the public
interest in the development of comprehensive public health policies by
promoting use of the scientific knowledge base in decision-making
about public health and by leading in developing public health policy.

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 Policy Development

• Develop policies and plans that support individual and

community health efforts
• Enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure
safety.
• Research for new insights and innovative solutions to health
problems

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 Assurance
 Public health agencies assure their constituents that services
necessary to achieve agreed upon goals are provided, either by
encouraging actions by other entities (private or public sector),
by requiring such action through regulation, or by providing
service directly.

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 Assurance

• Link people to needed personal health services and assure

the provision of health care when otherwise unavailable

• Assure a competent public health and personal health care

workforce

• Inform, educate, and empower people about health issues

• Mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve

health problems 9
Core Components

ASSESSMENT POLICY
of the health of DEVELOPMENT
the community in the public’s
interest

ASSURANCE
of the public’s
health

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 Public health professionals include, but are not limited to the following:

•      Administrators •      Health law experts

•      Biostatisticians •      Labratorians
•      Dieticians •      Occupational health specialists
•      Environmental health •      Public health nurses
specialists •      Researchers
•      Epidemiologists •      Sanitarians
•      Health care providers •      Social scientists
•      Health communication •      Toxicologists
specialists •      Others
•      Health educators

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10 Essential Services
1. Monitor health status
to identify community
health problems

2. Diagnose and investigate

health problems and health
hazards in the community

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10 Essential Services
3. Inform, educate, and
empower people about
health issues

4. Mobilize community partnerships

to identify and solve
health problems

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10 Essential Services
5. Develop policies and
plans that support
health efforts

6. Enforce laws and regulations that

protect health and
ensure safety

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10 Essential Services
7. Link people to personnel
health services and
assure the provision of
health care

8. Assure a competent public health

and health care
workforce
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10 Essential Services
9. Evaluate the effectiveness,
accessibility, and quality
of services

10. Research for new insights and

innovative solutions to
health problems

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Essential Service: Activities by state and/or local public health Source of data
agencies

Monitor health
•Determine and monitor water quality Morbidity ,
status to
identify and •Monitor water wells mortality reports
solve
•Monitor waste/water treatment and (routine reports)
community
health problems disposal Surveillance
•Mosquito surveillance Surveys
•Immunization status
 Observation
•STD/HIV testing and counseling
Rapid
•Food-borne illness investigations
assessments
•Screening for diabetes

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 Essential service: Activities by state and/or local Source of data
public health agencies

2. Diagnose and
investigate health • Determination of prevalence Community needs
problems and health and incidence of diseases like assessment
hazards in the TB,HIV , nutritional problems
community Surveys
and others..
Surveillance
Routine reports

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 Essential service:
3. Evaluate effectiveness,
accessibility, and quality of
personal and population-based
health services
Activities by state and/or local public
health agencies
- have an M and E plan from the
beginning
- Set indicators
- Keep the necessary data for measuring
the input, process, the output, the
outcome, impact
- measuring outcomes and impact and
(using epidemiological study designs)
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 Essential service:
4. Develop policies and plans that
support individual and
community health efforts
Activities by state and/or local public health
agencies
- Drug regulatory functions
-Administration of state and local public health
departments
- Monitoring of contractors/providers
-Strategic Planning, community health planning
•Develop different policies and guidelines
Eg: drug policy, HIV/AIDS policy, ART guideline,
TB/Leprosy guideline, etc…
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 Essential service: Activities by state and/or local public
health agencies

5. Enforce laws and regulations that -Hazardous materials and sites

protect health and
ensure safety inspections and certifications
- Professional licensure and
regulation
- Food inspections
-Enforcement of state/Regional/local
health-related rules

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 Essential service:
6. Research new insights and
innovative solutions to health
problems
Activities by state and/or local public
health agencies
• Study of successful public health
programs in other jurisdictions
• Research on new interventions;
- example water-treatment methods
-better means of TB treatment
delivery
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 Essential service:
7.  Link people to needed personal –Out reach services
health services and assure the
provision of health care when
otherwise unavailable
Activities by state and/or local public
health agencies
–Campaigns (EOS)
–Expansion of health posts
–Extension health worker
–TB program
-Maternal and child health
-Access Hospitals
-Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection
program
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 Essential Service: Activities by state and/or local public health
agencies

8. Mobilize community partnerships and Tobacco-free coalitions

action to identify and solve health -
problems - Community partnerships with law
enforcement, program implementation
-Referrals and collaboration with health-care
providers
- collaboration with communities to meet the
needs of special populations
- Idirs, Community Conversation

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 Essential Service:
9. Inform, educate and empower
people about health Issues
Activities by state and/or local public
health agencies
•Public health education through the
media, presentations, the Internet,
displays, etc.
•HIV/AIDS risk reduction education
•Child-abuse education
•Domestic violence education
•Public education about well
construction
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 Essential Service: Activities by state and/or local public health
agencies

10. Assure a competent public

and personal health-care -Public health certification
work force - Public health practitioner performance evaluations
- Sanitarian, water-contractor training
- Certification of environmental health professionals

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