The accepted definition of Public health is, “It is the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through the organized efforts of society”. The well-being of all members of the society at all levels, the biologic, physical, and mental, constitutes the goal of public health.

There is a greater need for an efficient and effective public health system in India. As against clinical medicine, public health deals with community health. It is said that: "Health care is vital to all of us some of the time, but public health is vital to all of us all of the time." Public health caters to the interest of society by assuring conditions in which people can be healthy. Public health system is a conglomeration of all organized activities that prevent disease, prolong life and promote health and efficiency of its people. Indian healthcare system has been historically dominated by provisioning of medical care and neglected public health.

Public health at the community level caters to the wellbeing of individuals at all ages; maternal and foetal health, child health, adolescent health, reproductive health and geriatric care. While public health impinges on many professional disciplines such as medicine, dentistry, nursing, optometry, nutrition, social work, environmental sciences, health education, health services administration, and the behavioural sciences, its activities focus on the entire population rather than on individual patients. Public health professionals monitor and diagnose the health concerns of entire communities and strive to promote healthy practices and behaviours that would make populations stay healthy.

Disease control and prevention being of primary concern to public health, some of the major activities of public health workers would be promotion of vaccination for infectious disease control, ensure motor vehicle safety, create safer workplaces, control of communicable and infectious diseases, ensure decline in death due to coronary disease and stroke, provision for safer and healthier food, ensure healthier mothers and babies, educate communities for safe family planning, ensure clean and healthy drinking water, and sensitive people towards the health effects of tobacco and alcohol consumption etc.

Advisory Board