SULONG BACAN

Abstract

Public Health is defined as the common attainment of the highest level of physical, mental, and social well-being and longevity consistent with available knowledge and resources at a given time and place. Also, it is the art of applying science in the context of politics so as to reduce inequalities in health while ensuring the best health for the greatest number.

There are two distinct characteristics of Public Health. First, it deals with preventive rather than curative aspects of health, and second, it deals with population-level, rather than individual-level health issues. The focus of public health intervention is to prevent, rather than treat, a disease, through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors. Hand washing, vaccination programs, and the distribution of medicines are examples of public health measures. The United Nations’ World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Public health has seven categories: <ol> <li>Activities conducted on a community basis</li> <li>Activities designed for prevention of illness, disability, or premature death</li> <li>Activities related to comprehensive health care</li> <li>Activities concerned with collection, preservation, analysis, and use of vital records</li> <li>Public health education</li> <li>Comprehensive health planning and evaluation</li> <li>Research</li> </ol>

Because of limited resources and experience, the group will be focusing on the first category.

The term Community health refers to the health status of a defined group of people, or community, and the actions and conditions that protect and improve the health of the community. Those individuals who make up a community live in a somewhat localized area under the same general regulations, norms, values, and organizations. For example, the health status of the people living in a particular town and the actions taken to protect and improve the health of these residents would constitute Community health. In the past, most individuals could be identified with a community in either a geographical or an organizational sense. Today, however, with expanding global economies, rapid transportation, and instant communication, communities alone no longer have the resources to control or look after all the needs of their residents or constituents. Thus, the term Population health emerged. Population health differs from community health only in the scope of people it might address. People who are not organized or have no identity as a group or locality may constitute a population, but not necessarily a community. A population can be a segment of a community, a category of people in several communities of a region, or workers in various industries. The health status of these populations and the actions and conditions needed to protect and improve the health of a population constitute population health.

The actions and conditions that protect and improve community or population health can be organized into three areas: health promotion, health protection, and health services. This breakdown emphasizes the collaborative efforts of various public and private sectors in relation to community health.

Health promotion may be defined as any combination of educational and social efforts designed to help people take greater control of and improve their health. Health protection and health services differ from health promotion in the nature or timing ofthe actions taken. Health protection and services include the implementing of laws, rules, or policies approved in a community as a result of health promotion or legislation.

The Municipality of Tubungan is located in Region VI, in the 1st congressional district of the Province of Iloilo. A 4th-class municipality composed of 48 barangays, Tubungan is located roughly 40 kilometers away from Iloilo City. Tubungan has a land area of 8,518 hectares, found a hundred feet above sea level. The municipality’s topography is dominated mostly by gentle rolling hills and idyllic mountains. The slope gradient ranges to as high as of 25 percent in most areas, giving it an almost mountainous terrain.