In 2009 I wrote an article detailing the three most important factors in ensuring the health and security of a people: societal stability, public health, and primary care. The article studied the Black Death, the Great Influenza, and other key events in history to determine how these three factors, or lack thereof, impacted people’s lives.
In 2016 this has not changed. Large outbreaks like Ebola and Zika, and smaller ones like Influenza and Salmonella, impact the world every day. Non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, and injuries of all sorts, remain major threats to health. New hazards arise, whether from pollution or exposure to untested industrial chemicals. And as always, unhealthy lifestyle choices cause more early disease and death than anything else.
Meanwhile, as nations and individuals sink further into debt, public health funding declines. Greater need and fewer resources in public health mean that professionals in that field need to work smarter. Articles below are intended to help these public health and other medical professionals meet their mission.
American Family Physician