Question

How does public health fit into the overall environment of health care in the United States?

Answer 1

Public health is the science of preventing the disease, health promotion and prolonging the life span of all people in a society by the implementation of organized plans, which increase the overall healthcare.

The policies and programs of public health must consider the approaches that respect diverse values and beliefs in the community. Public health institutions provide the information they have regarding the policies and communities consent should be obtained prior to their implementation. “Common good” is the vision of public health and it is interested in securing the benefits for the majority of the people in a community. For example, although cessation of tobacco smoking suppresses the personal interest of an individual, it benefits all the people living in that area without knowingly causing harm to anybody. This “public health model” of ethical reasoning includes this type of cost-benefit calculation.

The primary aim of public health professionals is to address the fundamental causes of diseases and preventing the adverse health outcomes. They can have to maintain the confidentiality of information, which would be harmful to the community or at the individual level if it made public. For example, disclosing the given fact that “the risk of sexual transmission of HIV in middle class, low prevalence areas is relatively low” to the public will be harmful to the other people living in the society and no such facts should be disclosed. The exceptional cases need to be justified on the basis of the significant likelihood of harm to the individual.