Swine Flu Outbreak : What does it say about community health?
By:
NWHF Staff
| Posted on: April 27th, 2009
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Categories:
Economic Issues •
Policies & Laws •
Public Health
When faced with an issue such as the swine flu outbreak, people suddenly come face-to-face with “public health.” Health officers are interviewed on TV and radio and are quoted in breaking news stories. Public health becomes the voice of authority in times of uncertain health threats, and the CDC grabs headlines more often reserved for more common news stories.
But what does “public health” look like at the community level? Community health centers are the ground zero for testing, reporting, and tracking individual cases of swine flu. As the CDC says, community public health officials “should conduct thorough case and contact investigations to determine the source of the swine influenza virus, extent of community illness and the need for timely control measures.”
An outbreak becomes visible within communities. Community-level public health offices determine what each community needs and carefully monitor illness to determine what specific threats are present. They prepare in advance for emergency health needs, in this case by stockpiling antiviral drugs and those respirator masks you see everywhere.
Is it true that only fully funded public health departments will be able to face that challenge? How do you feel? How do your friends feel about public health and community health? What do your relatives think about public health - if they think about it at all?
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