2006 Public Health ...Heroes

TRI-COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT ANNUAL REPORT 2006 Public Health ...Heroes... Florence Nightingale Public Health Villains ADAMS, ARAPAHOE AND DOUGLAS COUNTIES Public Health Heroes...and Villains However, history belongs not only to the victors but also to “True heroism is remarkably sober, very the villains, who oftentimes inspire us to fight the good fight undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all and overcome difficult challenges. others at whatever cost, but the urge to You will also recognize many of serve others at whatever cost.” our villains – the germs and – Arthur Ashe, tennis champion and civil rights diseases our heroes have leader who died of AIDS in 1993 prevented or eliminated – including the Black Plague, Spanish Influenza, smallpox, ublic health was defined by Yale professor Charles polio, cholera, diphtheria, yellow Winslow as “The science and art of preventing disease, fever and malaria. Some are such prolonging life, and promoting physical health and P rarities in the U.S. that many efficiency through organized community efforts for the doctors may have never seen a case personally, but many still sanitation of the environment, the control of community exist and reappear as sporadic epidemics. Unfortunately, most infections, the education of the are only an international airline flight away. individual in principles of personal hygiene, the organization of medical Other contemporary villains that public health is up against and nursing service for the early include obesity, tobacco, foodborne illnesses, emerging diagnosis and preventive treatment of infections, HIV/AIDS, and a colossal global public health disease, and the development of the threat – the tiny mosquito. social machinery which will ensure to every individual in the community a Our environmental health adversaries standard of living adequate for the include air and water pollution, E. coli maintenance of health.” O157:H7, lead-based paint, toxic gasoline additives, asbestos, radon, Wow! That certainly sounds heroic, but it is the basis for chlorofluorocarbons, pesticide runoff, what public health workers do every single day, and often factory farm excrement lagoons, without recognition ... because the vast scope of public health deforestation, and numerous is rarely understood by the general public and when it works hazardous chemicals. as planned, it is virtually invisible. Saving someone from smoking a burning cigarette "The legacy of heroes Unfortunately, often the worst villains we face are a lack of is not quite as dramatic as education or living in poverty, both of which can defeat any saving someone from a is the memory of a good intentions and promote the most unhealthy conditions. burning building ... but not great name and the only is it saving their life, in inheritance of a great many similar instances, public example." Prevention, not Treatment of Illnesses health heroes are saving a – Benjamin Disraeli person from a lifetime of illness or disability as well. “If you have your health, you have everything” is what people often say, and public health is a primary reason people stay his annual report focuses on the accomplishments of healthy to begin with. Our many public health heroes help Tri-County Health Department in 2006, along with you to forget having to hear “Get well soon” since they help T the milestones of notable public health heroes. you to stay healthy longer. You will recognize many of the illustrious names, since they comprise a who’s who of historical public health celebrities and Nobel prizewinners: Hippocrates, Florence Nightingale, Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, James Lind, Louis Pasteur, Alexander Fleming, Margaret Sanger, Walter Reed, Jonas Salk,Albert Sabin and Edward Jenner. 1 Public health heroes have he great depression and rationing during two world “I think a hero is gone beyond infectious wars have led to generations of Americans who have an ordinary individual disease prevention efforts by T become massive consumers. But our overconsumption tackling challenges as diverse has led to increasing waste and waistlines ... and these who finds strength as chronic diseases, excesses are directly related to our ongoing environmental, to persevere and emergency preparedness nutritional and health problems. endure in spite of and health disparities. overwhelming Chronic diseases – such as Even with an all-time high average life expectancy of 77.9 obstacles.” heart disease, stroke, years,Americans live shorter, less healthy lives than people in diabetes and cancer – are most other industrialized countries, ranking 45th in the – Christopher Reeve now the leading causes of world. But we spend $6,000 per person per year on death worldwide. healthcare, an amount that is higher than any other country. Now, more than ever, we need some heroes to come to the Tragically, many of these deaths could have been prevented, rescue. And often those heroes can be found right here, or at least have been treated with early screening and working in public health. intervention.Though heart attacks and strokes seem like sudden events, they may actually have been years in the making and simple lifestyle changes could have prevented many of them. “No one notices it much when everything is going well, they only notice it when something goes wrong. And since our staff Recognizing All of Our Conquering Heroes does such a great job, our own public health heroes often remain virtually unseen.” Throughout this annual report, we recognize many diverse – Richard L.Vogt, MD, Executive Director examples of heroes, and that includes you.Yes, you can easily be a public health hero with some simple interventions: complete all children’s immunizations, cover your cough, use birth control, stop smoking, eat right nside this report you will learn about the ongoing work of and exercise, use antibiotics as the 448,254 public health workers in the U.S. who share a prescribed, disinfect surfaces, cook Icommitment to improve health and ensure a long, healthy your food to proper temperatures, life for everyone. wear insect repellent, practice safe sex, brush and floss, get a yearly And you will read about Tri-County Health Department’s influenza shot and above all else, numerous accomplishments, with photos of many of our 340 utilize the world’s number-one disease employees, whose dedication touches your lives everyday. prevention measure ... wash your hands with soap and water! We are proud of their achievements, and they are our heroes in every sense of the word. 2 of Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli can then cause Disease Prevention and Control antibiotic resistant infections in humans. In 1854, after using a map to illustrate how Emerging Infections - Villains Throughout History cases of cholera were centered around a Three historical events that devastated the global population community well, Dr. John Snow famously have inspired the heroes of public health for centuries:The removed the pump handle so residents Black Plague of the 1340s, which was one of the most were forced to get water elsewhere and devastating pandemics in human history; Spanish explorers the outbreak ended.This pioneering unknowingly brought the deadly European diseases smallpox, accomplishment can be regarded as the influenza, measles and typhus to the founding event in the science of New World (and took tobacco epidemiology – the incidence, distribution back with them); and World War I and control of diseases. air travel and mass movement of troops hastened the spread of the Today,Tri-County Health Department’s champion deadly Spanish influenza of 1918, epidemiologists help prevent infectious diseases that can be killing between 25 and 100 million spread by person-to-person contact, by animals or through people across the globe. food and water. A combined system of surveillance, reporting and control is very effective in The contemporary version of these global pandemics is “Intellectuals preventing widespread outbreaks, HIV/AIDS, which in just 25 years, has spread relentlessly from solve problems, and is practiced by virtually all a few widely scattered areas to virtually every country in the health departments across the world, killing 25 million and currently infecting 40 million geniuses prevent nation. During an outbreak, our them.” people ... many of whom do not know they are infected. disease control staff trace the AIDS is now the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. – Albert Einstein cause of an illness to its source, determine who else is at risk, and Tri-County Health Department has a contract with Denver put control measures into place, such as immunizing the at- Health to provide STD, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis (TB) risk population, issuing glove orders for restaurant workers screening and services to residents of our three-county or establishing quarantines. region. In 2006, Denver Health provided STD screening and services to 2,800 of our residents, and screened and treated Tri-County Health Department also tracks infectious disease 1,708 of our residents for tuberculosis. data across the region through the Colorado Electronic Disease Reporting System (CEDRS), which is a confidential Heroic Innovators early-warning system that allows us to follow disease trends and put urgent prevention measures into place in order to Antoni van Leeuwenhoek made some of the protect our community. first primitive microscopes. In 1676, he described the appearance of a tremendous A total of 65 different diseases and conditions must be number of “very little animals”

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