History of Public Health
Historians tell us public health began with human waste sanitation thousands of years ago. Later, clean water was brought into the ancient City of Rome by its famous aqueducts. Still other efforts by public health brought us ways to end widespread disease outbreaks, such as cholera and smallpox.
People live longer nowadays, thanks in large part to public health. In fact, life expectancy has increased 30 years since the beginning of the 20th century, and public health is credited with adding 25 of those 30 years through cleaner water, safer food and reduced injuries. Read more ...
Public health in Ohio has undergone many changes since 1886 when the Ohio State Board of Health – a precursor to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) – was established mostly to help coordinate the fight against tuberculosis (TB). In 1917, ODH was created by the Ohio General Assembly and it spent the first half of the 20th century working to control the spread of infectious disease.
The ODH Laboratory was established in 1898 as a Chemical and Bacteriological Laboratory by the Ohio State Board of Health and was the fourth such Laboratory in the nation. The Division of Laboratories was formed in 1912, and moved to the campus of The Ohio State University in 1914. In 2006, the lab relocated to its current facility, which it shares with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, on the campus of the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
ODH works closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on many issues to protect and improve health, investigate disease and provide crucial health and safety information. CDC began as a federal agency to combat malaria, and celebrated a milestone 60th anniversary in 2006. Read more ...
New responsibilities were added to public health at the dawn of the 21st century – the role of first responder and prevention and response to bioterrorism events. ODH’s mission remains unchanged – to protect and improve the health of all Ohioans. This is accomplished through educating the public on healthy behaviors, analyzing data, identifying and correcting unhealthy conditions in workplaces and home and promoting access to quality care.
Last Updated: 12/26/08
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