What is Public Health? (Picture 1) - Answers We see a boy drinking water out of some sort of pipe
- This IS public health
- Access to safe drinking water is a major global public health issue
- 663 million people currently lack access to an improved drinking source
- In the picture, the boy is using a rudimentary filter; developed for use among pastoral people in sub-
Saharan Africa; filtration system removes a number of pathogens
What is Public Health? (Picture 2) - Answers UF fans cheering on the Gators
- This IS public health
- Public safety is of concern at UF functions
- At each game, fire chief, police chief, health
department director, and others are on site and prepared to respond to any emergency
- Possible public health concerns in this photo include excessive exposure to alcohol and the sun
What is Public Health? (Picture 3) - Answers Someone preparing a vaccine for administration
- This IS public health
, - Vaccines are very important
- Vaccination decreases the impact of disease across the age spectrum (ex. children protected from
measles and pertussis, elderly protected from influenza)
- Vaccines reduce health care costs
- Vaccines have significant impact on reduction of morbidity and mortality of a population
Ancient Civilizations - Answers As far as 4000 years ago
- Greek, Egyptian, Mexican, Northern Indian cities had bathrooms, drains, and paved streets that sloped
down to covered sewers
- A palace on Crete had bathing facilities and toilets
- Many cultures had religious beliefs requiring clean personal behaviors and good hygiene (ex. Syria and
Phoenicia forbid pork consumption)
- Generally had system of collecting and storing clean water
- Food safety is more of a MODERN occurrence; it was initially improved through religious laws, curing
meat, and later, refrigeration
- In Ancient Greece, writers like Thucydides and Hippocrates wrote of endemic and epidemic diseases
(endemic = constantly present disease; epidemic = unexpectedly present disease); Hippocrates coined
those terms in his writing Airs, Waters, and Places (400 BC)
Middle Ages - Answers 500-1500 AD