Fastening seatbelts is an automatic habit for all of you. Public health helped pass Oregon's seat belt and infant car seat laws and continues to educate the public about the importance of using them. Statistics show that seat belts save an estimated 5,344 lives and prevent an estimated 139,200 injuries per year nationally. For years, public health has been educating people about the deadly health effects of tobacco and second hand smoke. Your sister calls and mentions that she and her new baby have just returned from the pediatrician.
Public health promotes early prenatal care for all pregnant women.
It also ensures that every baby born in Oregon gets a newborn screening test for metabolic disorders which, if untreated, can lead to profound developmental disability, illness or even death. Public health studies have shown that people who exercise regularly live longer and have healthier lives, with less chronic disease. You naturally assume the food is safe to eat, because public health oversees the inspection and licensing of restaurants. Thanks to public health it is fully equipped, the paramedics fully trained and a trauma system is in place to ensure that critically injured persons will have the best possible chance of survival. Driving home, you turn on the radio and hear a public service announcement sponsored by the Oregon Preschool Immunization Consortium.