Why Public Health?
Public Health is about the health of yourself, your community and the world at large. By joining the global force of professionals interested and dedicated to careers in public health, you can make a difference as well. Public Health is central to how our society achieves and sustains conditions that maximise the health and well-being of our populations.
Obesity and nutrition, pollution, heat waves, tobacco use, control of infectious and chronic diseases, and injury prevention are only a handful of the important contemporary issues in public health. Such issues require urgent attention, given the short and long-term impact they have on existing and future populations.
The responsibility of public health professionals is to have a holistic understanding of public health in communities – applying insight gleaned from past experiences with our diverse populations to foresee potential challenges in everyday health. They are tasked with planning strategically for the proper management of health services, the control and prevention of infectious diseases, as well as deciding what policies can best promote healthier lifestyles for future generations.