U.S. Public Health Public Health

U.S. Public Health

Public health services, as opposed to healthcare practice, are designed towards reducing and relieving disease and general ill-health in populations rather than in individuals (Lister, 2005). In the United States, public health is the domain of the Department of Health (HHS) and Human Services, and particularly the Department's Center for Disease Control (CDC) (Lister, 2005). The Department at large conducts health and social science research into such areas as disease prevention and control, food and drug safety, and childhood development (HHS.gov). In this way it is able to provide reliable for the actual public services that the Department provides, which include Medicare and Medicaid, the nation's health insurance plans (HHS.gov). States also play an important role in public health in the United States -- Medicaid coverage and eligibility varies widely from state to state, and most public health authority such as mandating disease reporting, determining the extent to which local and municipal public health organizations may operate, and the licensing of healthcare professionals is left to the states (Lister, 2005).

A few basic figures are all that are necessary to illustrate the importance that state and local agencies play in the role of public health in the United States. As of 2005, there were fifty-nine state and territorial health departments in the country, which in turn oversaw and often partially funded the over three-thousand county and city health departments (Lister, 2005). In fact, much of the federal government's work is in assisting these local agencies and other organizations rather than providing direct assistance; the Department of Health and Human Services awards more grant money than all other departments of the federal government combined (HHS.gov). Volunteer organizations like the Red Cross form the bulk of the recipients of this grant money, and are essential to the functioning of the U.S. Public Health System (HHS. Gov; Lister, 2005).

Though most public health authority rests with the states, the federal government also plays a crucial role in public health policy. Its ability to tax and spend can be used to indirectly influence state, local, and volunteer organizations' policies by controlling the purse strings (Lister, 2005). Occupational safety and food and drug research is also managed by federal agencies (HHS.gov). Many elements of disease control are also a part of the federal government's responsibility; though states still have he right and duty to impose quarantines when necessary, the CDC operates quarantine centers at many major ports, and has the authority to quarantine any person, animal, or thing suspected of bringing a new communicable disease -- or simply a violent strain of the flu -- into this country (Lister, 2005).