overview of public health

1. Dr.Kedar Karki

2. Public Health
 Public Health comprises of all analytical and
organizational efforts that are aimed to promote and
improve the health of the community.

3. Objectives of Public Health
 1. Ensure adequate levels of nutrition of the
community
 2. Prevention and control of human and zoonotic
diseases
 3. Prevention and control of food borne diseases
 4. Reduce health risks related to poor basic hygiene,
sanitation
 5. Promote waste disposal & management practices
 6. Prevent occurrence of natural disasters and
accidents

4. Public health problems affecting
developing countries
 · Inadequate levels of nutrition
 · Low standards of basic hygiene and sanitation
practices and infrastructure
 · High prevalence of controllable infections
 · Poor food hygiene and handling practices leading to
food borne diseases
 · Accumulation of waste in the environment

5. Public health problems affecting
developing countries
 · Contamination of water sources and Inadequate
supply of potable water
 · Proliferation of Informal settlements with unsuitable
housing facilities·
 Accidents (road air and rail, fire outbreaks)
 · Natural disasters: floods, droughts, earthquakes.

6. Public health activities that
enhance the health of the
community
 1. Proper nutrition of the population by provision of adequate
quantity of safe quality
 food
 2. Protection of water resources from contamination and
provision of potable and
 adequate water supplies
 3. Identification, prevent and control of diseases in the
community
 4. Proper design of houses and premises to provide for adequate
space, natural lighting,
 ventilation, sanitary facilities and safety
 5. Ensuring basic hygiene and sanitation in and around human
habitation

7. Public health activities that
enhance the health of the
community
 6. Food protection and control to prevent contamination with disease
agents and
 hazardous chemicals (pesticides, herbicides antibiotic residues, heavy
metals, food
 additives, hormones, etc) in food
 7. Environmental protection through prevention of environmental
pollution with
 hazardous chemicals and infectious disease agents
 8. Pest and vector Control: Design and implement strategies to deal
with mosquitoes,
 tsetse flies, snails, other disease vectors and pests.
 9. Radiation control: Limit use of radiation to essential services e.g. X-rays
for medical
 diagnosis, promotion of proper use of radiation and disposal of
radioactive materials

8. Veterinary Public Health
 Veterinary Public Health (VPH) is a component of public
health that is devoted to the
 application of professional veterinary knowledge, skills and
resources to the protection and improvement of human
health. VPH contributes to the physical and social well
being of humans through an understanding and
application of veterinary science. Many human diseases are
transmitted through foods of animal origin especially
meat, milk, eggs and fish, while others are transmitted
through contact with infected animals or materials from
infected animals. VPH is therefore devoted to the following
specific aims:

9. Specific aims:
 1. Provision of hygienically safe and nutritionally
adequate animal derived food for
 human consumption.
 2. Prevention of zoonotic diseases and other
occupational hazards to animal owners
 3. Prevention of environmental contamination from
agricultural and veterinary related activities.

10. The specific aims of Veterinary Public Health are
achieved through the following activities:
 · Prevention and control of Infectious/zoonotic
diseases in animals
 · Ensuring of proper design, siting,
construction,operation and hygiene of animal
slaughter facilities
 · Inspection of animals offered for slaughter to ensure
that they are free from infectious and zoonotic
diseases
 · Inspection and quality assurance of meat to ensure its
suitability for human consumption

11. The specific aims of Veterinary Public Health are
achieved through the following activities:
 · Inspection and quality assurance of fish to ensure its
suitability for human consumption.
 · Ensure proper disposal of dead animals or
condemned carcasses/organs after slaughter.
 · Ensure hygiene of milk and milk processing plants.
 ·Prevention and control of chemical residues in food.

12. Prevention is better than cure
 Better biosecurity in holdings
 Surveillance (active and passive):
 In holdings
 Before and during transport
 At place of destination (slaughterhouse!)
 Any other place and/or source

13. Importance of meat inspection
for animal health
 Ante and post mortem inspection are cornerstones for
animal disease surveillance
 Slaughterhouse is a focal point where animal diseases can
be detected
 Confirms and supplements data from other sources
 Beyond decision on meat: a public good function

14. Importance of the meat
inspection in international trade
 The respect of international standards in meat
inspection:
• facilitates international trade
• grants the health requirements are respected

15. Animal health surveillance
Ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections
Inspections of animals at slaughterhouses provide
valuable surveillance data. The sensitivity and
specificity of slaughterhouse inspection for
detecting the presence of specified diseases under
the inspection system in place should be pre-determined.

16. Control of biological hazards of animal health and public health
importance through ante- and post-mortem meat inspection
 Inspection of animals at slaughter can provide a
valuable contribution to surveillance for certain
diseases of animal and public health importance.
Control and/or reduction of biological hazards of
animal and public health importance by ante- and
post-mortem meat inspection are a core
responsibility of Veterinary Services.

17. Import now
 Ante mortem inspection „shown no evidence of
diseases…”

18. Animal Health conclusions
 Prevention is better than cure
 Ramifications for imports
 Professional qualifications are key
 Meat inspection as part of a system
 Cost-benefit must be considered

19. In line with the hygiene package
 Operators to take ownership of animal welfare
 Standard Operating Procedures
 Monitoring the effect of stunning on animals
 Determining key paramaters of stunning

21.  Thanks for your Attention.