Public Health

Public health is the science and art of improving the health and well-being of communities. Public health interventions go beyond individual healthcare to focus on preventing diseases and injuries, promoting healthy behaviors, and addressing sociocultural, economic, and environmental factors that impact health. While topics of public health, such as maternal health, child health, and epidemiology of infectious and noncommunicable diseases, require familiarity with clinical terms and concepts, the author demystifies medical knowledge to make it accessible to a wider audience. Challenges faced by low-income countries, as well as success stories from developed nations, are included to make the book relevant for global readers. With a focus on essentials and priority issues, the author employs simple and straightforward language to present situational cases that shed light on global public health challenges and possible interventions. To stimulate analytical thinking and encourage readers to approach the subject with scientific rigor, concepts and facts are substantiated with their background, rationale, or application. Readers should be able to relate learnings with their field experience. While this book is primarily for public health practitioners, including community health nurses and physicians, social workers, and health managers, it may be a valuable resource for anyone interested in public health and its application in creating healthier societies.

Dr. Hari Singh holds an MBBS and an MD in Community Health Administration from Delhi University. He has extensive experience in managing public health projects pertaining to maternal health, child health, adolescent health, family planning, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. Additionally, he has provided technical assistance to several state governments in India to improve the quality of services in public health institutions. He has also been involved in evaluating numerous national health programs and has worked with international funding agencies such as USAID and Danida. Currently, Dr. Singh serves as dean of the School of Public Health at SRM Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai, India, where he teaches public health. He is passionate about developing technical content in a simple language to ensure his readers can easily understand complex medical and health topics.

Preface. Acknowledgments. SECTION I Health and Disease. Chapter 1 What Is Public Health? Chapter 2 Concept of Primary Health Care. Chapter 3 What Is Health? Chapter 4 Determinants of Health. Chapter 5 What Are Infectious Diseases? Chapter 6 What Are Noncommunicable Diseases? Chapter 7 Classification of Diseases. SECTION II Basic Epidemiology. Chapter 8 What Is Epidemiology? Chapter 9 Disease Transmission. Chapter 10 Natural History of Diseases. Chapter 11 Measuring Mortality. Chapter 12 Measuring Morbidity. Chapter 13 Indirect Indicators of Health. Chapter 14 Disease Surveillance. SECTION III Applied Epidemiology. Chapter 15 Screening of Diseases. Chapter 16 Disease Prevention. Chapter 17 Epidemiological Study Designs: An Introduction. Chapter 18 Descriptive Study. Chapter 19 Case-Control Study. Chapter 20 Cohort Study. Chapter 21 Experimental Study. Chapter 22 Association and Causation. Chapter 23 Bias and Confounding. Chapter 24 Epidemic Management. SECTION IV Biostatistics. Chapter 25 What Is Biostatistics? Chapter 26 Organizing Data. Chapter 27 Analyzing Data. Chapter 28 Measures of Dispersion. Chapter 29 Presenting Data. Chapter 30 Sampling Methods. Chapter 31 Tests of Significance. Chapter 32 Correlation and Regression. SECTION V Public Health Nutrition. Chapter 33 Nutrition and Nutrients. Chapter 34 Nutritional Assessment. Chapter 35 Protein-Energy Malnutrition. Chapter 36 Iron-Deficiency Anemia. Chapter 37 Iodine Deficiency Disorders. Chapter 38 Vitamin A Deficiency. Chapter 39 Other Micronutrient Deficiencies. Chapter 40 Diet Planning. Chapter 41 Food Fortification and Food Additives. Chapter 42 Meat Hygiene and Mushroom Poisoning. SECTION VI Environmental Health. Chapter 43 What Is Environment? Chapter 44 Air Pollution. Chapter 45 Water and Its Sources. Chapter 46 Water Pollution and Treatment. Chapter 47 Water Harvesting. Chapter 48 Solid Waste Management. Chapter 49 Human Excreta Disposal. Chapter 50 Hospital Waste Management. Chapter 51 Noise Pollution. Chapter 52 Radiation. Chapter 53 Pesticides. Chapter 54 Housing and Family. SECTION VII Sociocultural Dimensions of Health. Chapter 55 Sociocultural Practices. Chapter 56 Gender and Health. Chapter 57 Poverty and Social Security. Chapter 58 Health-Seeking Behavior. SECTION VIII Maternal and Child Health. Chapter 59 Maternal Health. Chapter 60 Adolescent Health. Chapter 61 Child Health. Chapter 62 Integrated Management of Childhood Illness. Chapter 63 Immunization. Chapter 64 Family Planning Programs. Chapter 65 Methods of Contraception. Chapter 66 What Is Demography? SECTION IX Health Promotion. Chapter 67 Health Promotion and Health Communication. SECTION X Other Topics of Public Health. Chapter 68 Health of the Elderly. Chapter 69 Mental Health: A Public Health Concern. Chapter 70 Occupational Health Hazards. Chapter 71 Occupational Safety of Healthcare Workers. Chapter 72 Disaster Management. Chapter 73 Emerging Diseases. Chapter 74 International Health. SECTION XI Management of Health Projects. Chapter 75 Health Project Management. Chapter 76 Planning. Chapter 77 Implementation and Monitoring and Evaluation. Chapter 78 Quality Improvement. Chapter 79 Basic Communication Skills. Index.