In this assignment I am going to describe the origins of public health in the UK from the 19th century to the present day. I am also going to compare historical and current features of public health.
Public health is the measures taken by the government to prevent ill health and disease. The government monitor health so that they can develop different programmes and legislation to improve the health and well being of the people in the country. They do this by attempting to solve inequalities, so that all people not matter what are able to live a healthy life. There are eight policies to improve today's public health, these are; planning for health emergencies (this is making sure that health services are prepared for emergencies such as accidents, outbreaks of disease and terrorist attacks), helping more people to survive cancer (by attempting to reduce the cancer death rate by 5000), reducing smoking (by reducing smoking rates - 18.5% for adults, 12% for 15 year olds, and 11% for pregnant women), giving all children a healthy start in life (by improving maternity care and introducing the Healthy Child Programme, which is available to all families), reducing obesity and improving diet (by introducing the Change for Life programme, and ensuring that food packaging has clear nutritional information), reducing harmful drinking (again by introducing the Change for Life programme, and by providing £448 million to improve the lives of the 120,000 most troubled families), reducing drugs misuse and dependence (by providing support and information on drugs (I.e. FRANK), and supporting children in there first five years of their lives, to prevent drug use further on in their lives), and Creating a lasting legacy from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (by promoting sports and healthy living). (https://www.gov.uk/government/policies?topics%5B%5D=public-health, Gov.uk, Policies).