Community medicine deals with measuring the health needs of populations and planning services to meet those needs. It encompasses fields like public health, preventive medicine, and social medicine, with a shared goal of preventing disease and promoting health. Community medicine aims to study health and diseases within communities to identify issues, implement solutions, and evaluate effectiveness, with the ultimate goal of preventing disease, promoting health, and prolonging life. It incorporates areas like epidemiology, environmental health, and communicable and non-communicable diseases.

1. Concepts of community
medicine:
1

2. Definition
• The specialty which deals with population.
• Comprises those doctors who try to
measure the needs of sick and healthy.
• Who plan and administer the services to
meet the needs.
• Who are engaged in research & teaching
in the field.
2

3. 3
Community Medicine
• Successor of the terms ----
--Hygiene
--Public Health
--Preventive Medicine
--Social Medicine
--Community Health(1992)
All share common ground i.e., prevention of
diseases & promotion of Health

4. 4
Hygiene
• Greek word “Hygeia” Goddess of health
• Hygeia represents woman holding bowl in
hand & Serpent drinking from bowl.
• Serpent testifies the art of healing.
• Term hygiene was first used by “Galen”.

5. 5

6. 6

7. 7

8. 8

9. Public health:
• Winslow defined as “The science and art
of preventing disease, prolonging life and
promoting health through organized
community efforts”.
• Efforts are -control of infection.
-Sanitation.
-Health education.
-Provision of health care service.9

10. 10
Public Health (By Winslow in 1920)
• Deals with maintenance & improvement
of sanitation, cleanliness and personal
hygiene.
• Largely matter of sanitation- like proper
disposal of waste, provision of safe water,
safe food, and over-all safe environment.

11. Pioneers in public health ---
• James Lind -control trial for scurvy.
• Edward Jenner -small pox vaccination.
• CEA Winslow -defined public Health.
• William Budd -investigated infectious
diseases.
• Robert Koch-under standing of cause
/epidemiology
11

12. 12
Pioneers in public health
“Edwin Chadwick”
-anti filth crusade
-great sanitary awakening
-Public Health Act (1848)
“John Snow”
Cause of Cholera out breaks.
“Louis Pasteur”
Germ theory of Disease(1873)

13. Preventive medicine.
• “Art and science of health promotion and
disease prevention”
• By definition preventive medicine is
applied to “healthy” people.
• Its primary objective is prevention of
diseases and promotion of health.
13

14. Preventive Medicine
• Prevention is linked with James Lind &
Edward Jenner.
• Leavell & Clark defined general measures
of health promotion.
14

15. Preventive measures:
• Vaccination.
• Nutritional supplement.
• Disinfection.
• Insecticide treatment.
• Antibiotics.
• Screening of diseases.
• Control of social factors.
15

16. Social Medicine
• Defined as “The study of man in his social
environment and study of social factors
affecting health and disease”.
• Jules Guerin –first used this term and,
importance of social factors in the etiology
of disease was stressed.
16

17. Community Medicine
• Branch of medicine which deals with the
preventive, promotive & curative services.
through organized community efforts.
17

18. 18
Community medicine
• MCI in1992 recommended this term.
• Based on the principle…
“prevention is better than cure”
• Prevention is also…..
-simpler than cure
-safer than cure
-cheaper than cure
-easier than cure

19. 19
Community Medicine
• With advent of epidemiology “P S M” was
replaced by “Community Medicine”
• Defined as Study of health & diseases in
the population of defined community.
• Aim is to Achieve “Health For All”

20. 20
“J M Last” defined Community
Medicine with Goals…
• Study of health & diseases in population of a
defined community.
• Goals are…..
- To identify health problems & needs.
(Community Diagnosis)
- To plan & implement measures.
(community health care/ services)
- To evaluate extent of effectiveness.
( health care evaluation)

21. • Ultimate goal of community medicine is -
-to prevent the disease.
-to promote the health.
-to prolong the life.
21
Ultimate goal of CM:

22. Branches of Community medicine :
• Epidemiology
• Environmental health
• Rural /Urban health
• Communicable diseases
• Non-communicable diseases.
• Vital statistics
• Occupational health
• Health planning & management…
22