Key Messages

The “This is Public Health” campaign highlights how public health touches our daily lives.
The “This is public health” campaign educates residents of our community about the important role public health plays in protecting their lives and well being. From ‘No Smoking' signs to immunization clinics, from water filtration plants to bike paths, public health is all around us – protecting our health by safeguarding the places where we live, work, and play.

Public health is your health.
Public health improves the conditions and behaviors that affect the health of each and every one of us. Public health battles against deadly contagious diseases and promotes healthier lifestyles. Public health seeks to reduce incidences of preventable diseases, minimize the consequences of catastrophic events, and provide the basics of sanitation, safe food, and water. 

You are only as healthy as the world you live in.
Your health is determined not only by your own genetics and personal choices, but also by the environment around you. Public health investigates the ecology of health – from social networks and economic circumstances to our environment – and then minimizes health risks.

The globalization of health links us all.
The frenetic movement of food and people across borders permits illnesses to move rapidly from a remote village to far-away cities. Poor sanitation and a lack of health resources encourage new diseases, and can ultimately affect the health of Americans.

Public health is moral and smart.
Public health efforts allow us to save lives – your life, the lives of your family and friends, and the lives of people around the world. If we can save lives, we should.  We'll not only make people healthier, but we'll also address soaring healthcare costs by preventing unnecessary death and disease. 

We have a significant shortage of public health workers.
We will need more than 250,000 public health workers by 2020 to meet the world's healthcare needs – a challenge that is compounded by the impending retirement of nearly one-fourth of the current public health workforce. This crisis affects us all and will only escalate if we don't act now.