The study of public health seeks to identify the factors that affect the health of communities, cities, and society at large, and to ensure that conditions and policies that protect health on this scale are put into place. This field has become more important than ever with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, unquestionably the most serious global public health challenge of our lifetime.
Public health experts are playing a vital role in shaping our response to COVID-19 by mapping the spread of the illness, identifying ways to slow its transmission and mitigate its impacts, and formulating recommendations for action geared towards policymakers as well as the public. For example, research by Imperial College London’s COVID-19 Response Team has provided important guidance to governments around the world on the importance of lockdowns in stopping the spread of the pandemic by bringing together epidemiological analysis with statistical models to predict the potential impacts of different policy options.
Of course, public health is relevant to many other issues besides studying pandemics. For example, some public health experts seek to establish links between environmental risk factors faced by certain socio-economic groups and health outcomes, providing critical research needed to support action. Other public health advocates look at the impacts of policy interventions in healthcare, analyzing the collective actions that can be taken to improve health across populations. Education on topics like the value of proper nutrition and the importance of vaccination is also essential to this field.