The absence of disease or the promotion of wellbeing is the primary goal of public health work. The first level of prevention is to avert the disease or injury from even occurring. Public health’s biomedical research has seen great advances toward prevention. Public health measures have successfully mitigated infectious disease, environmental teratogens, and even genetic disorders. The identification of how underlying factors play an adverse role in an individual’s health have enabled a multitude of intervention techniques. From sanitation to immunizations to genetic screening, the communities’ health and wellbeing has seen drastic improvements in the last sixty years.
Throughout history, high death tolls have been attributable to infectious …show more content…
Intervention measures are only possible through understanding causation of disease. Both issues are extremely complex with multiple contributing factors. Onset of chronic disease has genetic markers, but also behavioral choices through life play a significant role. Education and awareness are currently the primary tools in delaying onset of disease (p. 172). Alternately, genetic screening programs can provide limited intervention techniques. Newborn screening now takes place in all states for 29 known issues. Nevertheless, practical and ethical concerns arise as a result. With the known prenatal issues, such as Down’s Syndrome, parents must make hard choices to terminate or continue the pregnancy. With the identification of further disorders, this terrible choice could grow for expecting parents. Screening parents to identify them as a carrier of a disorder has proven successful with Tay-Sachs disease, and yet, these genetic markers could increase discrimination or increase insurance coverage costs without anonymity benefits. Another screening, newborn screening also helps identify and provide solutions for several issues. However, identified concerns must have appropriate intervention strategies in place, therefore dictating which screening tests are utilized. All of which can potentially take funding and focus away from known prevention techniques such as the aforenoted sanitation and immunization of disease, which have historically proven to increase a communities’ health. With such a wide dearth of problems to address and limited resources, public health workers will have an interesting contributing role towards the continued health of our
Throughout history, high death tolls have been attributable to infectious …show more content…
Intervention measures are only possible through understanding causation of disease. Both issues are extremely complex with multiple contributing factors. Onset of chronic disease has genetic markers, but also behavioral choices through life play a significant role. Education and awareness are currently the primary tools in delaying onset of disease (p. 172). Alternately, genetic screening programs can provide limited intervention techniques. Newborn screening now takes place in all states for 29 known issues. Nevertheless, practical and ethical concerns arise as a result. With the known prenatal issues, such as Down’s Syndrome, parents must make hard choices to terminate or continue the pregnancy. With the identification of further disorders, this terrible choice could grow for expecting parents. Screening parents to identify them as a carrier of a disorder has proven successful with Tay-Sachs disease, and yet, these genetic markers could increase discrimination or increase insurance coverage costs without anonymity benefits. Another screening, newborn screening also helps identify and provide solutions for several issues. However, identified concerns must have appropriate intervention strategies in place, therefore dictating which screening tests are utilized. All of which can potentially take funding and focus away from known prevention techniques such as the aforenoted sanitation and immunization of disease, which have historically proven to increase a communities’ health. With such a wide dearth of problems to address and limited resources, public health workers will have an interesting contributing role towards the continued health of our