What is the “New Public Health”?

Abstract

The New Public Health is a contemporary application of a broad range of evidencebased scientifi c, technological, and management systems implementing measures to improve the health of individuals and populations. Its main objectives are the political and practical application of lessons learned from past successes and failures in disease control and the promotion of preventive measures to combat existing, evolving and re-emerging health threats and risks. We address present and anticipated health problems in a complex world with great inequalities with specifi c targets which would help to achieve higher standards of health and a more just and socially responsible distribution of resources.We present some examples of achievements in public health and clinical medicine, particularly from the past half century, that have resulted in improved disease control and increased health and longevity for populations. Many remaining challenges must be overcome in order to reduce the toll of avoidable morbidity and mortality and to achieve improved and equitable health nationally and internationally. The tools at our disposal today are much more effective than they were even just ten years ago. Promoting wider application of these tools and greater awareness of achievements and failures in public health will improve our capacity to affect greater change in population health in the future.The New Public Health is a moving target, as the science and practice of public health grow in strength. It is relevant to all countries, developing, transitional, or industrialized, all facing different combinations of epidemiologic, demographic, economic and health systems challenges. A greater understanding of these issues is vital to both a European and a wider audience of policy makers, educators, students, health systems managers, and practitioners of public health to address these challenges.

The effectiveness of nurse-led care in people with rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic review

“…Increased life expectancy and the rise in chronic diseases in the western world has led to greater demand for health care in both hospitals and the community (Tulchinsky and Varavikova, 2009). This demand has led to innovation in health care where nurses and other allied health professionals undertake extended roles which sometimes include work previously done by doctors, thus allowing a flexible approach to the delivery of care, where the patient is at the centre and the traditional professional boundaries are less important (Richardson et al, 1998).…”

Rede Médicos-Sentinela como Instrumento de Vigilância em Saúde [Pública]

“…2 A Saúde Pública surge assim, como uma disciplina integradora e multidisciplinar, 3 que atua, entre outros, em dois níveis essenciais: ao nível da produção e disseminação de conhecimento e evidência, e ao nível do processo de tomada de decisão.…”

Is violence a disease? Situating violence prevention in public health policy and practice

“…While this paradigm has traditionally applied to communicable disease, in the second half of the 20 th century the paradigm was expanded to account for non-communicable disease. 35 However, as early as 1970, Haddon 34,36,37 applied the paradigm specifically to the understanding of injuries (and many other public health concerns) where the underlying agent of injury is not a microbe or carcinogen but energy. 33 More specifically, injury has been attributed to bodily damage resulting from "acute exposure to thermal, mechanical, electrical, or chemical energy" (p.4) 38 most likely, mechanical force.…”

“…It is acknowledged that public health policy and practice needs to change in order to address current and emerging health challenges 35,[89][90][91] "that are not amenable to current strategies despite our best efforts" (p.34). 91 In the context of public health improvement in the UK Hanlon and colleagues argue for a "fifth wave"; 90,91 with reference to the global burden of violence we suggest that the answer may lie in a fourth public health revolution: a "change in scope" revolution.…”