Public Health

Public health often flies under the radar of international observers—especially the casual observer who may not have fulfilled the mandates of the extended-community worldview imperative with enough thoroughness. Multinational businesses that act in an ethically responsible way toward the country in which they are doing business create a positive economic impact on the country, thereby reducing poverty and, a fortiori, improving the country's public health. Public-health issues are commonly less obvious than war, or famine, or outbreaks of infectious disease, and yet they play pivotal roles in each. The chapter provides comparison between health care that is delivered in a clinical setting, involving individual patients with their doctors, and a public setting, involving strategies for dealing with the health care needs of large populations. Public-health officials have been keen on using the powerful tool of water control for short-term disease control, and sanitation efforts for long-term solutions.