CDC's Role in U.S. Public Health: History and Mission
This paper provides an overview of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), examining its mission as a major component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its evolving role in disease prevention and control. The paper traces key historical milestones from the agency's early work on malaria and smallpox eradication through its responses to AIDS, anthrax, H1N1 influenza, and other public health crises. It concludes by distinguishing between public health and community health, drawing on definitions from the Institute of Medicine and explaining how the CDC operates at both the national population level and in support of community-based health organizations.
- Overview of the CDC and Its Mission: CDC's role within HHS and core mission
- The History of Public Health in Relation to CDC: CDC milestones from founding through 1981
- Major Milestones: 1982–2005: Violence, HIV, anthrax, and chronic disease initiatives
- Recent Developments: 2006 to Present: H1N1, Haiti cholera, polio, and fungal meningitis response
- Public Health vs. Community Health: Distinguishing population-level and community-level health work
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- Organizes CDC history chronologically, making it easy for readers to follow the agency's evolving responsibilities over time.
- Grounds key definitions in authoritative sources, including the Institute of Medicine's distinction between public health and community health.
- Connects historical milestones directly to the CDC's broader public health mission, reinforcing relevance rather than simply listing events.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively uses definitional contrast — presenting the Institute of Medicine's definition of public health alongside a parallel definition of community health — to establish a clear conceptual distinction. This technique of side-by-side definition is a foundational skill in health sciences writing, where precision of terminology directly affects analytical clarity.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief agency overview and mission statement, then moves into an extended chronological history of the CDC organized by era. This historical narrative occupies the bulk of the paper and is followed by a shorter analytical section comparing public health and community health. The final section applies both concepts back to the CDC's actual operational role, giving the paper a clear thesis-support-application arc.
Overview of the CDC and Its Mission
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is, in basic terms, "one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services" (CDC, 2014). The agency's mission, as stated on its website, is to serve "as the national focus for developing and applying disease prevention and control, environmental health, health promotion and health education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States" (CDC, 2014).
The History of Public Health in Relation to CDC
The CDC is organized as a center for communicable diseases, cementing its role in the fight against a variety of health issues facing the country. The agency is recognized as a U.S. Public Health Service branch and assumes all the responsibilities of the Public Health Service Plague Laboratory in San Francisco.
The CDC was ushered onto the global public health scene for its role in Enterobacteriaceae taxonomy. One year after this achievement, the CDC was recognized again for its contribution to the decline of malaria cases and the subsequent declaration that malaria was no longer a significant health problem in the United States.
The threat of biological warfare — emerging one year after the commencement of the Korean War (1950–1953) — led to the establishment of the Epidemic Intelligence Service. The mandate of the service was to offer protection against manmade epidemics and biological warfare.
The relevance of the CDC in the nation's public health was further reinforced by two major health crises: the influenza epidemic and the appearance of poliomyelitis in infants due to contaminated Salk vaccines. In the latter case, the CDC was instrumental in both the identification and the correction of the problem. With regard to the influenza epidemic, the CDC developed well-designed guidelines for a vaccine.
Beginning in 1958, the CDC was involved in overseas missions for the first time when a team was dispatched to Southeast Asia to help combat a smallpox and cholera epidemic. The CDC also took over the Tuberculosis Program, which had formerly been administered by the Public Health Service. It was also during this period that the Foreign Quarantine Service joined the CDC.
The CDC was subsequently recognized for its role in the eradication of smallpox, which had remained a major public health concern. The classification of cigarette smoking as a health hazard was also set in motion by the CDC after it linked lung cancer to cigarette smoking. During the 1970s, the CDC spearheaded efforts to increase the number of Americans seeking immunizations. The first case of tuberculosis resistant to formerly effective drugs was reported in Alcorn County, Mississippi. AIDS was described for the very first time in a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) issue during this era.
References
CDC Foundation. (2014). What is public health? Retrieved from http://www.cdcfoundation.org/content/what-public-health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — CDC. (2014). CDC timeline. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline.htm
McKenzie, J., Pinger, R., & Kotecki, J. E. (2011). An introduction to community health (7th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.