2000 Introduction to Public Health Thank you for inviting me here to speak to you about public health and its importance in improving society s overall health. When we talk about public health, we re talking about promoting healthy behavior and preventing the introduction and spread of disease. We re talking specifically about ways to help people live healthier and live longer by influencing government health policies and, later, by implementing those policies.
Public health can mean making sure that sewer and water systems reach everyone and function safely.
It can mean working to prevent pollution from harming people where they live and work. And it can mean designing public campaigns to persuade people to change behavior that is harmful and dangerous to them and the people around them. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the greatest improvements in life expectancy in the United States have resulted from public health activities. In 1900, the average American could only expect to live 48 years. Today that average American lives to be about 77.