Health Officers is a common term used in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and elsewhere for public health

Public health

Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...

 officials. Public health officials may serve at the global, federal, state, county, or municipal level. Health officers are concerned with protecting and improving the health of communities, states, nations and populations.

IHealth Policy Objectives

Historically health officials were concerned uppermost with basic sanitation

Sanitation

Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...

, clean water, control of communicable diseases, and control of arbo-viral diseases

Arbovirus

Arbovirus is a term used to refer to a group of viruses that are transmitted by arthropod vectors. The word arbovirus is an acronym . Some arboviruses are able to cause emergent disease.-Transmission:...

. These remain paramount issues at the global level. Other concerns including chronic diseases have risen in magnitude in developed nations. Current major issues for health officials and health officers include tobacco control

Tobacco Control

Tobacco control is a field of public health science, policy and practice dedicated to controlling the growth of tobacco use and thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality it causes...

, injury prevention

Injury prevention

Injury prevention are efforts to prevent or reduce the severity of bodily injuries caused by external mechanisms, such as accidents, before they occur. Injury prevention is a component of safety and public health, and its goal is to improve the health of the population by preventing injuries and...

, public health surveillance, disease control, access to health care, health equity

Health equity

Health equity refers to the study of differences in the quality of health and health care across different populations....

, health disparities

Health disparities

Health equity refers to the study of differences in the quality of health and health care across different populations....

, cultural competence

Cultural competence

Cultural competence refers to an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures, particularly in the context of human resources, non-profit organizations, and government agencies whose employees work with persons from different cultural/ethnic backgrounds.Cultural competence...

, access to preventive services such as immunization

Immunization

Immunization, or immunisation, is the process by which an individual's immune system becomes fortified against an agent ....

s and health promotion

Health promotion

Health promotion has been defined by the World Health Organization's 2005 Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World as "the process of enabling people to increase control over their health and its determinants, and thereby improve their health"...

. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...

 has described the winnable battles for prevention. These battles include but are not limited to: HIV

HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

/AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

, Motor Vehicle Injuries, Healthcare Associated Infections, Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy of a female under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. It generally refers to a female who is unmarried and usually refers to an unplanned pregnancy...

, Nutrition

Nutrition

Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....

, Food safety

Food safety

Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards....

 and obesity

Obesity

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...

 prevention, malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

prevention, etc.

Other sources, references and notes

• Resolutions of the AMA House of Delegates, 1989–2009 search AMA website
• AAPHP Contact information at AAPHP website