A Different Way To Look At Public Health In The United States

Public health in the United States is far from perfect. Outbreaks of measles, a disease previously held in check, are making a comeback despite the unequivocal safety and efficacy of the MMR vaccine. Each day, many adolescents and young adults start smoking for the first time even though the health consequences of tobacco use have been drilled into their heads from a young age. Of course, the root causes of these problems are too complex to be thought of simply as failures of public health. After all, a teenager doesn't start smoking because they mistakenly think it's a perfectly healthy thing to do. And parents who choose to not vaccinate their child have probably already been told that vaccines are safe and effective (as to why they remain susceptible to non-credible information is a conversation for another day). But focusing on the ailments and unhealthy behaviors that affect Americans might cause one to lose sight of the benefits public health efforts of the past century have afforded us. It is an adage amongst public health professionals that 'public health is at its best when it is invisible to the public.' Do we see when a woman doesn't give birth to a child with spina bifida because of mandated folate fortification of cereals and grains? Or do we simply see a woman give birth to a happy and healthy baby? Do we see when a child avoids polio because they were vaccinated? Or do we simply see a healthy child? In the field of epidemiology, the potential varying health ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news