THE PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH

How public health s distinctive way of approaching human health has evolved by trial and error over a series of historic epidemics The field of public health has developed a distinctive way of approaching human health by focusing on the health of the population to improve the health of the individual In The Public Health Approach Dr Alfredo Morabia narrates the history of this population thinking and how it has helped address and combat a series of historic epidemics Morabia explains how this approach to public health has historically developed in response to major crises like the plague smallpox cholera tuberculosis influenza HIV AIDS and the COVID 19 pandemic By comparing population health outcomes this public health approach helps reveal and address behavioral and social determinants of health Through these examples Morabia demonstrates that individual health outcomes are intimately tied to the health of the population Morabia describes how public health professionals think and respond to crises by using scientific methods that uncover patterns that would otherwise remain hidden when focused on individual health or anecdotal data The COVID 19 pandemic and the successes and failures surrounding our response to it reinforces the urgent need for the pu