This past year has shown us: Public health is critical. That’s why
Sacramento County Public Health is excited to be a part of this year’s National Public Health Week, celebrated April 5-11.
We know that public health is more than a single topic; it’s countless issues and practices that are helping every American to live as long and as well as they can. This year, we’re joining the
American Public Health Association in focusing on the theme of Building Bridges to Public Health.
Public Health Week Daily Topics
While we may be physically distant from each other, it’s now more important than ever to come together and work toward building well-being and health equity in our communities.
Looking at the issues that can threaten the health and wellbeing of our children, families and communities, Sacramento County Public Health provides a number of programs, services, investigation and monitoring. Sacramento County Public Health has four categories of services:
- Disease Control and Surveillance includes vaccinations; disease lab testing; early detection of outbreaks; investigation of infectious or communicable diseases; and tracing transmission to prevent further spread of diseases such as TB and sexually transmitted infections.
- Health Education provides evidence-based informational resources, materials, activities and awareness campaigns for issues such as prevention of obesity, youth lead poisoning, youth tobacco use and mental health stigma and discrimination.
- Care Coordination & Medical Case Management provides diagnostic and treatment services for eligible medical conditions for those 0-21 years old; tuberculosis control, surveillance, treatment and follow-up for persons with active TB disease; increased access to dental services for those ages 0-20 years with Medi-Cal; and HIV care and treatment to those who are uninsured/underinsured.
- Children and Family Services provide public health nurse home visitation and additional resources for vulnerable groups for pregnancy, perinatal health, infant care and foster children.
“This has been an unprecedented year for public health and the community but it has also demonstrated how important public health is to all of us,” said Sacramento County Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye. “During the pandemic, there were difficult decisions, lessons learned and meaningful changes to our public health response system that will help us in any future public health emergency. We learned how to embrace environments that are constantly changing and to have our response become adaptable to an ever-changing system.”
The work of Sacramento County’s Division of Public Health is sometimes very visible, such as working at the COVID-19 testing and vaccination centers and hosting annual community flu clinics. More often, the work of public health is conducted behind the scenes such as the Public Health Emergency Preparedness team’s continued efforts to prepare and train for potential public health disasters, such as pandemic flu, floods and bioterrorism.
Thanks to the hard work of Public Health putting preventative health measures in place, we are able to live healthier and longer lives. Join us as we celebrate the dedicated people in Public Health who work to improve our health, well-being and quality of life every day. Learn more by viewing the
Public Health video and visit the
Public Health website.
