We recently interviewed several proud public health practitioners and experts, and what we heard time and time again was that no one knows public health exists when it’s working well. Take, for example, our drinking water. When we wake up in the morning, wash our hands and brush our teeth, we don’t think about the engineers, scientists, and infrastructure needed to maintain our water system and ensure we have access to clean drinking water. When do we notice this essential service? When there is something broken in that system, and we are inconvenienced by living under a boil water advisory.
A Community Approach to Wellness
While public health work often goes unnoticed, under-appreciated, and importantly, under-funded, the work is essential. It is the foundation on which good health is achieved. Public health considers entire communities, not just individuals, when finding solutions to reduce premature death and minimize effects of diseases. Those who work in the field of public health are concerned with the well-being of everyone, and take a One Health approach to work with partners in fields such as the economy, environmental studies, and government, to ensure that well-being is promoted in all aspects of life.
And what’s more? It is the most cost-effective means of healthcare. Preventing an illness, or injury, is always cheaper than paying for costly treatment downstream.
Innovation at Work
When you donate to public health, you are supporting innovation. In order to innovate, to find solutions to healthcare problems, we must invest in testing, trials of new treatments, and prevention measures. Wastewater surveillance for unregulated drugs is a great example of innovation that will, in the future, prevent opioid overdose deaths and keep our communities safer. Another is Test, Link, Call, a cost-effective and innovative approach to support access to care and treatment for people at risk of diseases such as Hepatitis C virus, Hepatitis B virus, HIV and Syphyllis.
Finding Public Health in the Everyday
Public Health is connection. It is meeting the needs of our communities. It is being equipped with what you need to make good decisions for your health. It is seatbelts, helmets, life jackets, vaccinations, shelter, mental health supports, food security, legislation to reduce collisions on roads, and anything else you can think of that ensures our communities continue to thrive going forward.
Donating to public health is investing in solutions, well before a health crisis takes hold. Taking an upstream approach, and doing the work that is needed to prevent serious illness and injury, will pay dividends by ensuring a healthier, safer, and more equitable future.
Pacific Public Health Foundation is the only charitable foundation in BC actively fundraising for public health initiatives, with and in support of our partners throughout the province. This Giving Tuesday, make public health visible by donating to support the health and wellness of people across BC. Thank you, as always, for your continued generosity.
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