Premium Essay

The United States Public Health System

Submitted By
Words 576
Pages 3
Public health is vital to the health and well-being of the United States, as well as the rest of the world. According to the World Health Organization (n.d.), “Public health refers to all organized measures (whether public or private) to prevent disease, promote health, and prolong life among the population as a whole.” Instead of focusing on the individual, public health targets an entire group or population by focusing on larger issues, such as epidemics, vaccines, and safety (e.g., water, food, and workplace safety) (Shi & Johnson, 2013). It is an integrative field and combines various disciplines, such as specialists from “the natural and social sciences” (Shi & Johnson, 2013, p. 2). Examples of aspects of the public health system include …show more content…
Examples of public health organizations in the United States are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (United States Public Health, 2011a), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and even a sector within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (United States Public Health, 2011b). According to Shi and Johnson (2013), public health organizations “are responsible for accomplishing” (p. 4) the Ten Essential Public Health Services and do so using the Core Functions of Public Health, which are “assessment, policy development, and assurance” (p. 54). As such, some of the responsibilities of public health agencies are to “inform, educate, and empower people about health issues” (Shi & Johnson, 2013), to create and carry out programs and policies to prevent disease and promote health, to assess the impact and quality of health programs and services, and to implement “laws and regulations” in order to keep the public safe and healthy (Shi & Johnson, …show more content…
Some of these achievements include vaccinations, recognition of tobacco as a threat to health, improved health for mothers and babies, workplace safety, and improved drinking water with water fluoridation (Centers, 2013). These accomplishments have led to a decline in cavities (“Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Fluoridation,” 1999), the eradication of certain diseases (“Achievements in public health, 1900-1999: Impact,” 1999), the decrease in infant mortality (“Achievements in public health, 1900-1999: Healthier, 1999), among others. Public health targets disease in populations and environmental health issues. Currently, public health is also focusing on issues including “obesity, injury, violence, substance abuse, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), natural disasters, and bioterrorism” (Shi & Johnson, 2013, p. 2). The focus of public health has shifted over time. This is evident when examining the three public health revolutions. The first revolution focused on “sanitary conditions and fought infectious disease” (Kickbush, 2003, p. 386). The second targeted “the contribution of individual behaviors to non-communicable diseases and premature death” (Kickbush, 2003, p. 386).

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Tuskkegee Syphilis Study

...Summary of Article African American men were targeted for a Syphilis study in 1932. It became one of the most unethical studies ever in United States history. This story became widely publicized in 1972 which caused the research to cease. Unethical research such as not disclosing the real reasons for the study left men sick and vulnerable. It eventually affected the men and their families. The effects of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study were felt for many years and many generations later. One positive outcome was the implementation of the National Research Act of 1974. The unethical acts could have been avoided by working from a “I treat you the way I want to be treated” philosophy. Medical research is usually considered life changing and for the better good of mankind because of positive advances that come from it. In 1932 when Caucasian doctors and the United States Public Health Service sponsored a study to research the effects of syphilis in African American men. This was not study for the better good of mankind. 400 African American men who already had contracted syphilis were enrolled in the study along with 200 uninfected men who served as control participants. “In the late 1940s, penicillin first became available to the general public as a cure for syphilis. However, the decision was made not to make it available to study participants, who were allowed to continue in the study without any treatment for their disease. They were continually supplied with placebos...

Words: 1127 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Ellis Island Dbq

...They were the main officials of the U.S. Public Health Service. On Ellis Island they had another name, surgeon. According to Doc 1, they were in charge of the Ellis Island Hospital and the medical examination of immigrants in a routine procedure called the line inspection. As long lines of immigrants slowly entered Ellis Island's Registry Room, they were examined swiftly and expertly by the doctors for any sign of disease or signs of physical or mental weakness. Ellis Island doctors were particularly watching for signs of contagious diseases like trachoma, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and other states of health such as poor physique, pregnancy and mental disability. Any immigrant suspected of being in questionable health was chalk-marked with a letter of the alphabet ("B" for back problems, "F" for face, "H" for heart) and taken out of line and moved to a physical or mental examination room. Those with definite illnesses were sent to the Ellis Island Hospital. The role of the doctors on Ellis Island was confined to the medical examination, diagnosis, and treatment of the immigrants. Doctors played no role in deciding the...

Words: 1211 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Health Status and Health Care Services in China with Comparison to the United States

...Health Status and Health Care Services in China with comparison to the United States HSM310 Introduction to Health Services Management Course Project December 12, 2010 A health care system refers to the comprehensive organization, structures and strategies through which Medicare and health care is made available by the government to its citizens. A health care system is a product of countries politics. It is a nations system of governance that will dictate upon the most convenient model of health care to adopt. There is no universally acceptable method, and in adopting each; a government has to take into account a variety of factors, which would range from available finances vis-a-vis the total population. A comparison of two models of health care or two countries approach to the provision of health services has to encompass the core issues of financing and health care management. Health sector is the most vital industry in a country and how effectively or ineffectively it is handled goes forth to reveal the social, political and economic policies of a country towards its citizens. A biggest investment of a government has to be in its people and what better way to do it than to invest in the health sector. The purpose of this paper is to focus at the comparison of the United States health care system with that of China. It will focus at financing and management of both systems, how they compare and contrast as well as the merits and demerits of each. Despite the fact...

Words: 2196 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Comparing Hong Kong and United States Heath Care Systems

...Amanda Newcomer <Course> November 01, 2013 <Instructor> Comparing Hong Kong and United States Heath Care Systems The United States is currently in the process of a health care reform which will change the current private sector health care program into a universal healthcare system. A great example of a universal healthcare program is Hong Kong. There are other countries that have changed from a private to a public health care system, but Hong Kong has shown that they have done it best. When comparing Hong Kong’s healthcare system to the United States healthcare system, the strengths and weaknesses of both will be revealed. In Hong Kong the government feels that no one should ever be denied the access to adequate healthcare. Hong Kong’s health care system includes both public and private insurance. The government has a very heavy involvement in Hong Kong’s healthcare. The reform that Hong Kong made to their health care system has earned them the ranking of the “world’s most efficient health care system.” (The Daily Briefing, 2013) While Hong Kong is being ranked as the world’s best, the United States is being ranked as one of the world’s worst health care systems. The United States and Hong Kong both consist of a public and private healthcare system. Even though Hong Kong has a universal healthcare system they still use the private sector as well. The private sector in Hong Kong provides nearly 70% of out-patient services. They provide a range of...

Words: 1182 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Health Care Economics

...Health Care Systems of China (Taiwan) and the United States Health Care Systems of Taiwan and the United States Health care is one of the most essential foundations for any citizenship in any country since whether it is effective or not, it definitely affects the standard of living and the life expectancy of a country. According to Johnson and Stoskopf (2009), "A health system as described by the World Health Organization (WHO) is the sum total of all the organizations, institutions, and resources whose primary purpose is to improve health," (p. 3). Therefore, to positively improve a nation, having an effective health care system is crucial. Being recognized as one of the powerful countries in the world, the United States has a great shape of health care programs; however, sometimes it is inaccessible to some of the citizens. On the contrary, as a small country, Taiwan is famous for its health care system although there are still defective parts existing in the current system. To compare the differences of health care systems in Taiwan and the United States, we can observe the three major aspects: ownership, cost, and quality. First of all, Taiwan and the United States have different types of ownership in the health care systems. Thus, Taiwan owns a single-payer system, which is run by the government, forcing everyone to join it and pay. Because of this policy, the coverage of health care is close to 99 percent (Underwood, 2009). In this country, the government-run system covers...

Words: 953 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Single Payer Healthcare for the United States

...Universal Health Care For The United States | | | | | | | | | |Nicole Jones | |April 2011 | |HS 544 Health Policy and Economics | |Fowler | | | Table Of Contents Page Section 1: Executive Summary …………………………………………….. 3 Section 2: Introduction …………………………………………….. 4 Section 3: Literature Review ……………………………………………… 5 Section 4: Problem Analysis ……………………………………………… 10 Section 5: Solutions and Implementations ………………………………………… 17 Section 6: Justification ……………………………………………… 18 Section 7: References ……………………………………………… 20 Executive Summary Almost four decades ago, Canada and the United States had very similar health care systems. Today, they are very different. The Canadian system is predominantly...

Words: 5173 - Pages: 21

Premium Essay

Hsm 310 Project

...Running head: HEALTH STATUS AND HEALTH CARE Health Status and Health Care Services in Canada with Comparison to the United States Bonny Tiley DeVry University, HSM 310 In the following literature, the Canadian health care system will be compared in detail to the United States health care system. There are two very different health care systems between Canada and the United states. They each have their own difficulties within their own systems and are currently trying to find ways to improve these particular issues. The Universal Health Care system is used in Canada; this provides coverage to all the citizens of Canada (Canadian Health Care, 2007). It is executed on either a territorial or provincial basis, staying within the guidelines that have been made by the federal government (Canadian Health Care, 2007). The United States on the other hand has a hugely private system, with multiple payers, leaving the US citizens no choice other than to pay out of one’s own pocket in order to obtain health insurance, also Americans are not fully insured or even partially insured like the citizens of Canada are (Canadian Health Care, 2007). Each country spends a large amount of funding for their health care systems. Canada had spent over eleven percent of its overall GDP on health care, the United States on the other hand had spent 17.4 percent of its overall GDP this year (United North America, 2013). On the other hand, Canada has been shown to spend much less of the GDP on their...

Words: 3083 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Comparative Analysis of the Health Care Systems Offered in the United States and Mexico

...Comparative Analysis of the Health Care Systems Offered in the United States and Mexico Comparative Analysis of the Health Care Systems Offered in the United States and Mexico Healthcare Comparison of United States and Mexico The objective of this report is to give a comparative analysis between the United States healthcare system and Mexico's. Its key focal point will be centered on the countries policies, how their various systems are financed, who provides healthcare, the costs of the programs and availability of access. While some factors of these two countries are similar there are varying differences among them, especially cost and access. All of the components of the two countries healthcare systems will be discussed in depth in a non-biased manner, it is our goal to simply establish how they are similar and what differences there are among them. For starters a comparison of the overall health of the people of the two countries will form a baseline as to the quality of care being provided in each of the countries and give us an insight into the effectiveness of its preventative services. The mortality rate of citizens of Mexico is 4.86 per 1,000, whereas the U.S. has 8.38 per 1,000(CIA, 2001) This is due in large part to the number of citizens the U.S. has over 65 years of age, 13.1% of the U.S. population is over 65, Mexico's is half that with 6.6%. While the baby boomer generation is a large reason why this number is high, a correlation between the quality...

Words: 4240 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Health Care Systems of Taiwan and the United States

...Health Care Systems of Taiwan and the United States Health care is one of the most essential foundations for any citizenship in any country since whether it is effective or not, it definitely affects the standard of living and the life expectancy of a country. According to Johnson and Stoskopf (2009), "A health system as described by the World Health Organization (WHO) is the sum total of all the organizations, institutions, and resources whose primary purpose is to improve health," (p. 3). Therefore, to positively improve a nation, having an effective health care system is crucial. Being recognized as one of the powerful countries in the world, the United States has a great shape of health care programs; however, sometimes it is inaccessible to some of the citizens. On the contrary, as a small country, Taiwan is famous for its health care system although there are still defective parts existing in the current system. To compare the differences of health care systems in Taiwan and the United States, we can observe the three major aspects: ownership, cost, and quality. First of all, Taiwan and the United States have different types of ownership in the health care systems. Thus, Taiwan owns a single-payer system, which is run by the government, forcing everyone to join it and pay. Because of this policy, the coverage of health care is close to 99 percent (Underwood, 2009). In this country, the government-run system covers prevention, primary care, hospitalization...

Words: 942 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Healthcare

...Health Care Necessity for a Universal Health Care System in America Health care reform has recently become top priority for policy makers, and health administrators. The current health care system faces many costly problems for the uninsured/underinsured, employment-based insurance coverage, and financially burdened health service providers. Although policy makers have made many attempts to raise the number of insured, through programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, the number of uninsured Americans continues to rise. Currently 45 million American have no health insurance and children make up approximately 10 million of that number reported by the U.S. Census Bureau (8-10). The politicians and largely the medical societies, appear to be unable to decide what society’s responsibility in health care should be to those who are unable to purchase basic coverage. Surveys conducted by institutions like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation have noted that the proportion of people named the uninsured as the single most important domestic issue. Additionally, the Woods and Kaiser Foundation study concludes 55% of the participants expressed willingness to pay some level of taxes to cover the uninsured (1-4). The majority thought that the uninsured should be offered a federal funded health care package. Universal health can enhance health and well-being by promoting access to high-quality care that is cost effective, efficient, safe,...

Words: 2631 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Hcs 535 Public Health and Healthcare

...Public health and health care Concepts of Population Health HCS/535 The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, coordinate efforts in conjunction with states and other partnersto offer a system of health surveillance, which would monitor and prevent disease outbreaks, which includes bioterrorism. The goal of the agency is to implement strategies to prevent diseases as well as maintain national health statistics. Another role of the CDC is to safeguard against international disease transmission, this is vital as the agency has personnel located several countries outside the United States. Looking at the agency’s core functions, examining influences in the workplace, and identifying roles of the agency personnel is vital to understanding the CDC’s contribution(Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d.). Core functions The primary focus of the CDC has been geared toward the protection of health and the promotion of life. This is achieved through preventing and controlling of disease, injury, and forms of disability. This will be attained through collaborative efforts with partnerships in the United States as well as throughout the world. These efforts include monitoring health, detecting and investigating health issues, performing research to improve prevention, develop and promote policies, spearhead leadership and training, and foster safe and healthy environments(Fos& Fine, 2005). Support to the Public Health System The CDC is a sub-set...

Words: 1388 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Heath Care Economics

...Health Care Economics and the Uninsured School of Nursing Health Care Economics and the Uninsured The United States health care system is a large and complex structure organized to deliver health care services to the country’s residents (Maurer, 2013). The system is not systematically organized, but is the result of the interrelationships between numerous influences such as culture, consumers, epidemiology, health professionals, governmental policy, technology, and economics (Maurer, 2013). Due to the various, and, often conflicting, interests on the U.S. health care system, large disparities exist in the delivery of health care to consumers. In fact, according to Maurer (2013), “the consumer is the most vulnerable component and is the most likely to be hurt by ineffective functioning of the system” (p. 63). Because of the ineffectiveness of the current system for so many Americans and the disparities that exist among consumers, the American Nurses Association [ANA] (2008) described the current U.S. health care system as “in a state of crisis” (Executive Summary, para. 1). For many Americans, the major obstacle preventing them from receiving quality and reliable health care is a lack of health insurance (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ], 2012; Maurer, 2013; Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured [KCM&U], 2012). More specifically, the way our health care system is financed, a piecemeal approach of...

Words: 3590 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

The Paradox of the Affordable Care Act

...Recommendation……………………………………………………………………………………………..12 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..13 References………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….14 Introduction Recent health care reform legislation, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Education Reconciliation Act, which is now being referred to simply as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), was signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. Since the 20th century, several United States presidents have faced challenges in passing national health reform into law. Before the ACA was enacted, national health reform proposals under different governments in the United States faced strong opposition from various stakeholders and multiple interest groups. Therefore, the enactment of the ACA is revolutionary healthcare reform in the history of the United States. Healthcare insurance is a program that assists in paying medical expenses through privately purchased insurance or social welfare programs. In other words, health insurance is a system that provides protection against health costs. This newly legislated healthcare reform offers health insurance for all Americans and legal residents in the United States. Furthermore, the law was enacted to control the constant increase of healthcare costs as well as improving the healthcare delivery system in the...

Words: 4260 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Health Care Spending

...Health Care Spending Sheilah Schmidt HCS/440 July 21, 2014 Marcia Smith Health Care Spending Health care is rising rapidly. Health care spending is a serious and major issue that needs more focus and stability. In 2009, the gross domestic product (GDP) rose to 17.6% and reached $2.5 trillion. The United States spends thousands of dollars per person for health care. People treated and diagnosed for chronic conditions, and obesity rates are still at large. The current health expenditure for the United States is 15.7% in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Hospital care, physician and clinical services are responsible for half of the national health care spending increase between 2005 and 2009 (Understanding U.S. Health Care Spending, 2011). If nobody takes action, bankruptcy may be present. Further readings will explain the level of current national health care expenditures and whether the spending is too much or not enough. Further readings will also address where the nation should add the cut; how the public’s health care needs are paid for; and the future economic needs of the health care system. Current National Health Care Expenditures In 2012, the United States spent $2.87 trillion on health care (Management, 2013, p. 1). In 2013, the United States spent $2.9 trillion on health care which is a 3.8% increase. According to Emanuel (2013), the United States spent more than the French and German economy. Health care spending is a big issue in the United States than in any...

Words: 1582 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Administrative Agencies

...in the United States of America affect our lives. The group has provided a list of agencies that play similar and at times very different roles in ensuring the quality of life we have come to expect is never compromised. The write-up explains some of Group Four members’ real life experiences, offering recommendations as to how one should address the negative impact(s) a particular agencies has had on his or her life. Lastly, the write-up explains the role of the courts in address any negative experiences any individual may have had with any of the agencies and the limitations of the courts’ review of the agencies decisions that lead to the negative impact. Which agencies regulate some aspect of your lives? The longer the list, the more interesting this exercise should be, so take some time to brainstorm a thorough answer to this question. Federal Agencies CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention EEOC United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency FAA Federal Aviation Administration FCC Federal Communications Commission FDA Food and Drug Administration FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation FED Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System FTC Federal Trade Commission HHS United States Department of Health and Human Services HRSA Health Resources and Services Administration IRS Internal Revenue Services NIH National Institutes of Health OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration ...

Words: 2314 - Pages: 10