public health

Introduction
History of public health
- Beginnings in antiquity
- The Middle Ages
- The Renaissance
- National developments in the 18th and 19th centuries
- Developments from 1875
Modern organizational and administrative patterns
- International organizations
- Developed countries
  - Patterns shared among developed countries
  - Variations among developed countries
- Developing countries
  - Patterns shared among less-developed countries
  - Variations among less-developed countries
  - Health problems and obstacles
  - Education of health personnel
Progress in public health
- Developed countries
  - Increasing interest of national governments
  - Changing concepts of preventable disease
  - Integration of preventive and medical care services
  - Provisions directed toward better mental health
  - Growing emphasis on health education
  - The biostatistical, epidemiological approach
  - Changes resulting from an aging population
  - Concern regarding the quality of the environment
- Less-developed countries
  - Infectious disease control
  - Malnutrition
  - Family health
  - Health personnel
  - Comprehensive community health services
  - National health planning

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Kabul: Ministry of Public Health

World map showing World Health Organization membership: most countries in blue as member states, United States and a few others in orange as withdrawing, yellow for nonmembers, and green for observer status.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Medieval illustration of Brotherhood of the Cross flagellants in robes and pointed hats walking in procession, some carrying a crucifix and banners, during the Black Death.

Painting by Albert Edelfelt showing Louis Pasteur in his laboratory, holding a glass flask and examining it intently, surrounded by scientific equipment on a workbench.

Poster with headline reading Save the Babies, promoting pasteurized milk and listing prices, in both English and German, from Chicago Commons, Chicago, 1902.

Ebola virus disease; hand washing

Infographic comparing the maximum basic reproduction numbers (R0) of various contagious diseases, using diagrams of a red contagious person spreading infection to multiple blue figures, with R0 values increasing from 2 for Ebola and influenza up to 18 for measles.

At a Glance

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public health summary

public health: Media

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Images

Polio vaccine

Polio vaccine

A health care worker giving a polio vaccine to a child in Katsina state, Nigeria,...

Alford Williams/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Kabul: Ministry of Public Health

Kabul: Ministry of Public Health

A worker administers water-purifying tablets for the Ministry of Public Health in...

Tomas Munita/AP

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

During the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, which affected thousands of people in the...

James Gathany/CDC

Hippocrates

Hippocrates

An undated bust of ancient Greek physician Hippocrates.

World History Archive/Alamy

Medieval illustration of Brotherhood of the Cross flagellants in robes and pointed hats walking in procession, some carrying a crucifix and banners, during the Black Death.

Black Death

Flagellants in the Netherlands scourging themselves in atonement, believing that...

© Photos.com/Getty Images Plus

Painting by Albert Edelfelt showing Louis Pasteur in his laboratory, holding a glass flask and examining it intently, surrounded by scientific equipment on a workbench.

Louis Pasteur in his laboratory

In the 19th century Louis Pasteur's work established the germ theory of disease,...

Photos.com/Getty Images

Poster with headline reading Save the Babies, promoting pasteurized milk and listing prices, in both English and German, from Chicago Commons, Chicago, 1902.

Pasteurized milk

A milk campaign notice (1902) from the Chicago Commons settlement house, which sought...

The Newberry Library, Gifts of Lea Demarest Taylor and Katharine Taylor, 1952 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Ebola virus disease; hand washing

Ebola virus disease; hand washing

A Liberian nurse washing his hands with water after treating a patient sick with...

Bethany Fank—iStock/Thinkstock

Infographic comparing the maximum basic reproduction numbers (R0) of various contagious diseases, using diagrams of a red contagious person spreading infection to multiple blue figures, with R0 values increasing from 2 for Ebola and influenza up to 18 for measles.

Basic reproduction number of select viral diseases

The contagiousness of infectious pathogens is measured by R₀ (R naught),...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Poster in Italian with the headline Latte Puro pei Bambini, providing information about obtaining pasteurized milk for children, with addresses for Chicago settlement houses listed below.

milk campaign notice

A milk campaign notice (1902) from the Chicago Commons settlement house, which sought...

The Newberry Library, Gifts of Lea Demarest Taylor and Katharine Taylor, 1951 (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Interactives

World map showing World Health Organization membership: most countries in blue as member states, United States and a few others in orange as withdrawing, yellow for nonmembers, and green for observer status.

Members of the World Health Organization

Interactive map showing current members of the World Health Organization.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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