ABSTRACT
For the past approximately 150 years, governmental public health agencies at local, state, and federal levels have successfully united with others to eradicate some, and control many other, communicable diseases, improve sanitation, and lead the charge for the development of policies such as seatbelt safety and drunk driving reducing. As a result, since the 1900s the average life span in the United States has increased by more than 30 years; 25 years of this gain have been attributed to public health advances. However, the role of public health must evolve in order to be successful for the next 100 years. We as a society must demand a population health approach from public health. The Institute of Medicine’s Future of the Public’s Health in the 21st Century calls for signifi cant movement in building a new generation of intersectoral partnerships that draw on the perspectives and resources of diverse communities and actively engage them in health action-a population health approach. However, much of U.S. governmental public health activity does not have such a broad mandate even in its “assurance” functions, because major population health determinants like health care, education, and income remain outside public health authority and responsibility. Current resources provide inadequate support for traditional-let alone emerging-public health functions.
