Public Health Services: Wellness, Prevention, Bioterrorism

Wellness

Public health services are charged with the detection and prevention of disease from spreading. They are also supposed to perform disease surveillance activities such as checking for any outbreaks or immunizing patients in case of a probable outbreak. The detection of unusual diseases or outbreaks is very crucial as some spreads across from the animals to humans (zoonotic) such as the avian flu, and they may have economic importance as un-well citizens are less productive compared to healthy citizens.

Prevention

The role of public health services in the prevention of diseases is by providing easily accessible and the required health information both at individual and national levels. They also mobilize community partnership and action to identify and prevent the spreading of diseases. This is done by holding community and groups, mostly the health-related organizations, and involving them in screening, rehabilitation, and support programs.

Bioterrorism

The deliberate use of microorganisms with the main intention being to cause infections to achieve the desired goal is referred to as bioterrorism. With scientific laboratories creating microorganisms every day, it is the role of public health in preventing the release of these infectious pathogens into the environment, and if released, it is also the role of public health services to prevent the spread by taking considerable measures to reduce the chances of the pathogens spreading. These bioterrorists can either use contagious or zoonotic pathogens to spread the diseases and thus it is the role of the public health services to contain the spread of such diseases. This can be done by notifying all the critical response entities and then initiating an investigation into the source of the infection and the agents which were used to control the spread. The public health service is also charged with supporting the medical community in containing the spread, and finally, they can maintain public confidence by avoiding panic through communication.