Because the scope of public health is so broad, it depends on collaborations with many diverse partners.
Public health differs from health care in two major ways.
We serve the entire community by focusing on population groups rather on the individual, and we emphasize preventing illness and injury rather than medical treatment of a problem that has already occurred. In two years Oregon's tobacco prevention program reduced overall tobacco consumption by 11 percent. The number of smokers has dropped by 35,00 and 500 million fewer cigarettes are sold each year. Health Division enforces water-quality standards for 3,619 public water systems serving 2.5 million people, as well as for 900 smaller water systems. More than 8,000 women annually receive nurse home visits and other pregnancy-related services through county health departments, helping assure healthy birth outcomes.