Public Health/Organizations

Introduction

This sub-module of the learning resource about Public Health deals with organizations that are responsible for public health e.g. on a global scale or national scale.

World Health Organization (WHO)

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution, which establishes the agency's governing structure and principles, states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health". The WHO's broad mandate includes advocating for universal healthcare, monitoring public health risks, coordinating responses to health emergencies, and promoting human health and well-being. The WHO has played a leading role in several public health achievements, most notably the eradication of smallpox, the near-eradication of polio, and the development of an Ebola vaccine. Its current priorities include communicable diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS, Ebola, COVID-19, malaria and tuberculosis; non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer; healthy diet, nutrition, and food security; occupational health; and substance abuse.

Others

Most countries have their own governmental public health agency, often called the ministry of health, with responsibility for domestic health issues.

For example, in the United States, state and local health departments are on the front line of public health initiatives. In addition to their national duties, the United States Public Health Service (PHS), led by the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, headquartered in Atlanta, are also involved with international health activities.

Public health programs

Most governments recognize the importance of public health programs in reducing the incidence of disease, disability, and the effects of aging and other physical and mental health conditions. However, public health generally receives significantly less government funding compared with medicine. Although the collaboration of local health and government agencies is considered best practice to improve public health, the pieces of evidence available to support this is limited. Public health programs providing vaccinations have made major progress in promoting health, including substantially reducing the occurrence of cholera and polio and eradicating smallpox, diseases that have plagued humanity for thousands of years.

Three former directors of the Global Smallpox Eradication Program reading the news that smallpox had been globally eradicated, 1980

The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies core functions of public health programs including:

• providing leadership on matters critical to health and engaging in partnerships where joint action is needed;
• shaping a research agenda and stimulating the generation, translation and dissemination of valuable knowledge;
• setting norms and standards and promoting and monitoring their implementation;
• articulating ethical and evidence-based policy options;
• monitoring the health situation and assessing health trends.

In particular, public health surveillance programs can:

• serve as an early warning system for impending public health emergencies;
• document the impact of an intervention, or track progress towards specified goals; and
• monitor and clarify the epidemiology of health problems, allow priorities to be set, and inform health policy and strategies.
• diagnose, investigate, and monitor health problems and health hazards of the community

Behavior change

Main resource: w:en:Behavior change (public health)

Many health problems are due to maladaptive personal behaviors. From an evolutionary psychology perspective, over consumption of novel substances that are harmful is due to the activation of an evolved reward system for substances such as drugs, tobacco, alcohol, refined salt, fat, and carbohydrates. New technologies such as modern transportation also cause reduced physical activity. Research has found that behavior is more effectively changed by taking evolutionary motivations into consideration instead of only presenting information about health effects. The marketing industry has long known the importance of associating products with high status and attractiveness to others. Films are increasingly being recognized as a public health tool. In fact, film festivals and competitions have been established to specifically promote films about health. Conversely, it has been argued that emphasizing the harmful and undesirable effects of tobacco smoking on other persons and imposing smoking bans in public places have been particularly effective in reducing tobacco smoking.

Applications in health care

As well as seeking to improve population health through the implementation of specific population-level interventions, public health contributes to medical care by identifying and assessing population needs for health care services, including:

• Assessing current services and evaluating whether they are meeting the objectives of the health care system
• Ascertaining requirements as expressed by health professionals, the public and other stakeholders
• Identifying the most appropriate interventions
• Considering the effect on resources for proposed interventions and assessing their cost-effectiveness
• Supporting decision making in health care and planning health services including any necessary changes.
• Informing, educating, and empowering people about health issues