Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Public Health: Familiar with “Love Canal?”






Are you familiar of the story “Love Canal?” Love Canal is a small community located near at Niagara Falls, New York. In 1976, a heavy rains soaked the earth and flooded the basements of the area, soon afterward, gardens began to die, pets became sickly, then the people. Over the next two years, residents had suffered from high rates of miscarriages, birth defects, cancer, and other ailments. Why did this happen?

The Love Canal society had been built in a forgotten toxic dumpsite. And during the flooding, the water was mixed up with the chemicals seeping from the toxic wastes buried there over twenty years earlier. At the end, the President declared the Love Canal as a disaster area. The place is but one of example to show unto us how the environment can affect public health. Tragedies as of this could have been prevented if the environment and public health become everybody’s concern.



What is a Public Health? Public health includes efforts to protect and promote total well – being on an individual, local, state, national, or international level. An organized group of doctors, and other professionals, scientists, public officials, and consumers are working together to achieve better health for everyone.

Now a day, through the Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies, the federal government is involved in every phase of public health. The public health department functions as medical care programs, disease detection, environment health programs, patient facilities and services and lastly as a support services.


In 1948 the United Nations formed the World Health Organization (WHO) to “raise the physical and mental health of all people.” WHO sponsors projects for infectious disease control and immunization in generating countries. The organization also concerned with improving nutrition and sanitation, as well as training public – health.