Online Lecture 6: Public Health

Lecturer: Prof. Ivan Miškulin, University of Osijek, Faculty of Medicine

Content of the lecture: This lecture aims to clarify and illuminate the field of Public Health. Many people are still unaware of what public health entails or how it impacts their daily lives. We recognize that “health” and “healthcare” are not synonymous; however, the level of development and comprehensiveness of healthcare reflects the broader concept of health.

Public health encompasses the health of each individual as well as all members of a community, providing an institutional framework for achieving this ideal. It is crucial for people to understand that public health affects various aspects of their daily lives.

Today, the term public health refers to the responsibilities and tasks related to health protection that a government must provide. Historically, the state was primarily responsible for disease prevention and caring for the poor and vulnerable. Nowadays, the state’s role has evolved to include organizing health services and overseeing overall healthcare.

Responsible governments are now formulating public health policies and programs to better understand the causes of disease, ensure social stability and prosperity, and maintain public order.

Objectives of the lecture:  Students will learn what public health is, the most significant public health challenges of the 21st century, and how to organize healthcare for all population groups in various emergency situations. Additionally, students will gain an overview of the specifics involved in organizing health services in the community, as well as the details of health and social care organizations. They will also explore methods of financing, the fundamentals of management and health economics, and the implementation of public health interventions.

Recommended reading: 

• C. Hamlin, The history and development of public health in high-income countries. In R. Detels, R. Beaglehole, M. A. Lansang and M. Gulliford (eds.), Oxford Textbook of Public Health, 5th ed., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009.
• A. O’Shaughnessy, J. Wright and B. Cave, Assessing health needs. In I. Kawachi, I. Lang and W. Ricciardi (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Public Health Practice, 4th ed., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020.
• World Health Organization, Quality of Care, Geneva, WHO, 14 October 2022. Available at: www.who.int/health-topics/quality-of-care
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Health Care Quality and Outcomes Indicators. Available at: www.oecd.org/health/
• World Health Organization, The Global Health Observatory. Available at: www.who.int/data/gho
• World Health Organization, Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, Geneva, WHO, 1986.
• M. Marmot, J. Allen, T. Boyce et al., Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years on, London, Institute of Health Equity/The Health Foundation, 2020.
• WHO Regional Office for Europe, Screening programmes: A short guide, 2020. Available at: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/330829/9789289054782eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Optional reading:

• T. L. Beauchamp and J. F. Childress, Principles of Biomedical Ethics, 3rd ed., New York, NY, Oxford University Press, 1989.
• N. Daniels, Accountability for reasonableness: Establishing a fair process for priority setting is easier than agreeing on principles, British Medical Journal 321(7272), 2000, 1300–1.
• J. Atkinson, E. Loftus and J. Jarvis, The art of change making, Leadership Centre, 2015. Available at: www.leadershipcentre.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2016/02/The-Art-of-Change-Making.pdf
• W. Bridges and S. Bridges, Managing Transitions: Making the Most of Change, Philadelphia, PA, Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2017.
• Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network, Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (GBD 2019) Demographics 1950–2019, Seattle, WA, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), 2020.
• UNICEF, The state of the world’s children 2021: Statistical tables, 2021. Available at: https://data.unicef.org/resources/dataset/the-state-of-the-worlds-children2021-statistical-tables
• World Health Organization, Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, 1986. Available at: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/349652.
• World Health Organization, The WHO Global Diabetes Compact. Available at: www.who.int/initiatives/the-who-global-diabetes-compact
• World Health Organization, Mental health. Available at: www.who.int/health-topics/mental-health
• World Health Organization, Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2030. Available at: www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240031029
• United Nations, EHO’s work on the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030). Available at: www.who.int/initiatives/decade-of-healthy-ageing

You can download the presentation by prof. Ivan Miškulin in .pdf.