The problems are real, and the debates are enduring. From epidemic management to health care policy, public health practices affect lawmakers and citizens alike in nearly every country worldwide.
Although discussions of public health issues are ongoing, Elon University recognized National Public Health Week April 2-6. The university hosted events on campus to draw attention to both public health issues and Elon's public health studies program, which established a major this fall.
“We’re really trying to prepare students to face public health issues,” said Kristen Sullivan, coordinator of public health at Elon. “We’re taking an interdisciplinary approach to examine health issues at the community and the population level both domestically and internationally.”
Public health studies and general studies departments, as well as the Periclean Scholars program, sponsored the events.
“The goal of any liberal arts institution is to raise student awareness of global issues, and clearly health issues are some of the most pressing and immediate issues facing society, domestically and internationally,” said Tom Arcaro, director of the Periclean Scholars program.
Periclean Scholars classes often focus on issues of public health within their respective countries, and the sponsorship of National Public Heath Week coupled well with the program’s objectives, Arcaro said.
At College Coffee Tuesday morning, Sullivan manned a table set with information about the university’s public health studies program. The versatility of a public health major makes it very compatible with a second major, she said.
“We have students who are very into the social sciences, health behaviors and health promotion, and then we have students who are going into a clinical career path who are more drawn to the biological aspects (of public health),” Sullivan said. “We have students who are interested in environmental health issues as well.”
With the intent of emphasizing the humanitarian aspects of public health, Sullivan coordinated two lectures on the prevalence and prevention of HIV/AIDS in Africa and Ukraine on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. The ongoing problem of HIV/AIDS in Africa is a widely recognized issue, and students responded well to the lecture, Sullivan said.
But the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine is far less publicized, and many students left the lecture enlightened of an issue kept largely in the dark by the Ukrainian government and the Western media.
Diane DeBell, professor of policy in health and social care at Anglia Ruskin University, spoke candidly about the hastening HIV epidemic in the Ukraine and ways to halt its spread. Nearly 90 percent of all HIV diagnoses in Eastern Europe are concentrated in the Ukraine, but the country lacks both health insurance and an effective prevention policy, she said.
“This picture of difficulties gives us insight into how public health officials have to work within the field,” she said. “Public health is not a benign activity. It’s always political in its delivery, and I think public health work is the most challenging field there is in medicine.”