Title: Public Health, Primary Care, and Privatization
Abstract:Public health is an extremely vital but still little understood area of human endeavor. Traditionally, the public health system has been a vital resource for disadvantaged communities and families. It...Public health is an extremely vital but still little understood area of human endeavor. Traditionally, the public health system has been a vital resource for disadvantaged communities and families. Its unique ability to provide population based solutions to health problems has been essential to promoting and protecting the health of the underserved. However market forces are significantly changing the financial base and functional role of the public health departments. As a result, policymakers at all levels of government are looking for ways to provide leaner and more efficient delivery of services. A popular strategy is the privatization of public health services. This paper examines the changes in the public health system and primary care services in Florida’s county health departments. Florida Public Health Review, 2004; 1: 63-66 The Development of the Public Health System Public health is a fundamental but still little understood area of human endeavor. The history of public health extends back at least 4000 years to the ancient Indian cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa that first developed public sanitation. The major problems of health that humankind has faced throughout history have been concerned with community life: -- the control of transmissible disease, the control and improvement of the physical environment (sanitation), the provision of medical care and the relief of disability and destitution. The relative emphasis placed on each of these problems has varied from time to time, but outgrowths of these emphases have come to form the public health system as we know it today (Rosen, 1958). The public health system’s unique ability to provide population based solutions to health problems has been essential in promoting and protecting the health of the community. More recently, the public health system has evolved to include personal health care and serves as a critical resource for disadvantaged communities and families. After the establishment of the local health departments in the U.S. during the mid-1800s, these bodies provided population-based public health services to assure the health and safety of the entire community, while the private sector provided medical care services. Public health services generally are categorized into the areas of assessment, policy development, and assurance. Assessment includes diagnosing illnesses and disease. Policy development involves shaping positions on key health issues by the government. Assurance encompasses developing programs that attest to quality in the operations of programs. However, with the inception of the Medicaid program in 1965, public health departments began toRead More
Publication Year: 2004
Publication Date: 2004-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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