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Faculty of Health Sciences
Mashhad University of Medical Sciences
Public health
   
Public health is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis.
Health is defined and promoted differently by many organizations. The World Health Organization, the United Nations body that sets standards and provides global surveillance of disease, defines health as: "A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Public health experts agree this definition is incomplete. Other components included in an individual's health are nutritional, spiritual, and intellectual. The population in question can be as big as a handful of people or, in the case of a pandemic, whole continents. Public health has many sub-fields, but is typically divided into the categories of epidemiology, biostatistics and health services. Environmental, social and behavioral health, and occupational health, are also important fields in public health.
Objectives
The focus of a public health intervention is to prevent rather than treat a disease through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors. Public is defined as the science and art of promoting health, preventing disease and prolonging healthy life through organized efforts of society. In addition to these activities, in many cases treating a disease can be vital to preventing it in others, such as during an outbreak of an infectious disease. Vaccination programs and distribution of condoms are examples of public health measures.
Many countries have their own government agencies, sometimes known as ministries of health, to respond to domestic health issues. Many diseases are preventable through simple, non-medical methods. Public health plays a very important role in prevention efforts in both the developing world and in developed economies, either through the local health system or through international non-governmental organizations. The two major postgraduate professional degrees related to this field are the Masterof Public Health (MPH) or the (much rarer) Doctor of Public Health (DrPH). Many public health researchers hold PhDs in their fields of specialty, while some public health programs confer the equivalent Doctor of Science degree instead.
| Last Update : 2012-02-09 04:42:31
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Faculty of Health