Public Health Emergency Preparedness: Fundamentals of the System

Publication Date: April 2002

Publisher: National Health Policy Forum; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Author(s): E. Salinsky

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

Public health has a mission to promote physical and mental health, prevent disease, injury, and disability, and protect the public from environmental hazards. It focuses on the prevention of disease within populations. Recently, the threat of bioterrorism has clarified the nation's need for a strong public health infrastructure that is adequately prepared to respond to a broad-scale bioterrorism attack. New legislation to develop this infrastructure must be well informed about the current situation of public health. Unprecedented amounts of federal funding have been designated to strengthen the capacity and capabilities of the public health system. The purpose of this background report is to provide policymakers with a comprehensive overview of how public health is currently structured and organized. The paper places the current structure in the historical context of the evolution of public health and describes the relationship between public health interventions, medicine, and health care services. It also summarizes the services and activities that constitute public health practice, describes the legal foundation for public health interventions, explains how public health is organized and structured at all levels of government, and discusses the roles and responsibilities of the organizations that are charged with handling public health emergencies.