The Public Health

The Public Health

The public health is the discipline responsible for the protection of health at the population level . In this sense, it seeks to improve the health conditions of the communities by promoting healthy lifestyles, awareness campaigns, education and research . For this, it has the participation of specialists in medicine , biology , nursing , sociology , statistics , veterinary and other sciences and areas.

The development of public health depends on governments , which develop different health programsto meet the aforementioned objectives. Among the functions of public health, there are epidemiological-pathological prevention (with massive free vaccination campaigns), health protection (control of the environment and pollution), health promotion (through education) and sanitary restoration (to recover health).

Public health agencies must assess the health needs of the population , investigate the emergence of health risks and analyze the determinants of these risks. According to the detected, they must establish the priorities and develop the programs and plans that allow responding to the needs.

Public health must also manage resources to ensure that its services reach as many people as possible. Public health can not offer advanced services for certain people and neglect the health conditions of the rest, as part of a community principle and not personal. When depending on the State , public health should not make distinctions among the inhabitants of the same region.

The general perception about the effectiveness of public health systemsvaries considerably according to the country. Two examples of opposite situations occur in Argentina and Great Britain. Argentine citizens place public health among the most regrettable characteristicsof your nation. Even in times of crisis, many people prefer to pay huge sums of money to a social work before setting foot in a public hospital. At first glance, given the sad conditions in which these buildings are and the bad attention that characterizes them, no one could question that attitude. However, there are many cases of malpractice in private clinics, as well as lack of consideration that call into question the human condition of some of its professionals.

Although generalizing is never the best way, public health in Argentina has too many negative points, the most notable being the lack of hygiene in many hospitals, which can hardly be seen through the entrance door. It is understandable that a sick person does not intend to be treated in a center where breathing can cause nausea.

On the other side of the map, is the National Health Service UK ( National Health Service or NHS ). In the first place, all the inhabitants of Great Britain, whether or not they have their papers in order, have the right to such a health system, and the registration process is relatively simple. Contrary to the chaos of the lack of organization, each citizen is assigned a general practitioner ( General Practitioner or GP), who will be the first professional to contact. He is responsible for evaluating his patients and, if necessary, refer them to a specialist. It should be noted that many of the most common issues, such as prescribing medications and diagnosing minor disorders, do not require a referral.

British hospitals have facilities, equipment and a level of maintenance that in Argentina are only seen in a private clinic. In addition, given that each person has a particular center, the long waits to be attended are very rare, not to mention that generally the number of seats available is sufficient for the volume of daily visits.