Introduction to Public Health

Department of Preventive &

Community Dentistry

Dr. Navdeep Kaur

H.O.D
(Dept. of Preventive & Community
Dentistry)
 Contents:

 Introduction
 Definitions
 History
 Public Health Approach
 Essential Aids
 Public Health Organizations
 Bibliography
 What is Public Health? 
The sum of all official & governmental efforts to promote, protect, and preserve the
health of the community and people.
 Definition
of Public Health
 “The science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting physical and mental
efficiency through organized community effort for the sanitation of the environment, the control
of communicable infection, the education of the individual and personal hygiene , the
organization of medical &nursing services for the early diagnosis & preventive treatment of the
disease & development of social machinery to ensure everyone a standard of living adequate for
the maintenance of health , so organizing these benefits so a s to enable every citizen to realize
his birthright if health and longevity”
- Winslow, 1920
  “The process of mobilizing and engaging local, state, national, and international resources to
assure the conditions in which people can be healthy”
-The Oxford Textbook of Public Health

 “The science and practice of protecting and improving the health of the community, as by
preventive medicine, health education, control of communicable diseases, application of
sanitary measures, and monitoring of environmental hazards.”
-The American Heritage Dictionary of Public Health
Some Public Healthcare Occupations:
•First responders
•Restaurant inspectors
•Health educators
•Scientists and researchers
•Nutritionists
•Community planners
•Social workers
•Epidemiologists
•Public health physicians
•Public health nurses
•Occupational health and safety professionals
•Public policymakers
•Sanitarians
 From conducting scientific research to educating about health, people in the field of public
health work to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy. That can mean vaccinating
children and adults to prevent the spread of disease. Or educating people about the risks of
alcohol and tobacco. Public health sets safety standards to protect workers and develops school
nutrition programs to ensure kids have access to healthy food.

 Public health works to track disease outbreaks, prevent injuries and shed light on why some of
us are more likely to suffer from poor health than others. The many facets of public health
include speaking out for laws that promote smoke-free indoor air and seatbelts, spreading the
word about ways to stay healthy and giving science-based solutions to problems.

 Public health saves money, improves our quality of life, helps children thrive and reduces
human suffering.
 History
of Public Health
 In 1796, Edward Jenner inoculated an 8 year old boy called James Phipps, using cowpox. He was
testing the theory that milkmaids who suffered the mild disease of cowpox never contracted
smallpox. He subsequently proved that Phipps was indeed immune to smallpox.

 The miasmatic theory of disease began in the middle ages and continued to the 1800s when it was
used to explain the spread of cholera in London and in Paris. (Miasma: Greek for “Pollution”)

 Despite Anton van Leeuwenhoek’s observations of microorgansms, in the year 1680, the modern
era of public health did not begin until the 1880’s with Robert Koch’s germ theory.

 Robert Koch gave the Koch’s postulates which were used in 1875 to demonstrate that anthrax was
caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis.

 The germ theory of disease : This theory proposes that microorganisms are the cause of many
diseases. Dr. John Snow contributed to the formation of this theory when he traced the source of the
1854 Cholera outbreak in the Soho neighborhood of London.
Public Health Approach
Essential
Public Health Services
Core Activities of Public Health
1. Prevents epidemics and the spread of disease
2. Protects against environmental hazards
3. Responds to disasters and assists communities in recovery
4. Prevents injuries
5. Promotes healthy behaviours
6. Assures the quality, accessibility and accountability of health
services
7. Monitoring the health status of the population
8. Mobilizing community action
9. Reaching out to link high-risk and hard-to-reach people to
needed services
10. Researching to develop new insights and innovative solutions
11. Leading the development of sound health policy and planning
10 Great Public Health Achievements:
The Public
Health
Pyramid
Common Public Health Problems & Diseases:
 Communicable diseases  Measles
 Non communicable diseases  Influenza
 Environmental pollution
 Poliomyelitis
 Maternal child health problems
 Malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency
 Tuberculosis
 Municipal and hospital waste  Cholera
 Geriatric health problems  Dengue
 Population problems  Malaria
 HIV/AIDS
 Obesity
 Cancer
 Diabetes
PUBLIC HEALTH ORGANISATIONS
• World Health Organisation
• American Public Health Association
• National Institutes of Health, USA
• Council on Education for Public Health
• Indian Public Health Association
• Indian Institutes for Public Health :
IIPH Delhi
IIPH Hyderabad
IIPH Bhubaneswar
IIPH Shillong
 Bibliography:

 Textbook of Preventive & Community Dentistry- Soban Peter (6th Edition)

 Public Health Foundation of India ( phfi.org)

 American Public Health Association (apha.org)

 Textbook of Community Dentistry – S.S. Hiremath