public health

noun

Definition of public health

: the art and science dealing with the protection and improvement of community health by organized community effort and including preventive medicine and sanitary and social science

Examples of public health in a Sentence

a disease that poses a serious threat to public health She got her degree in public health. Public health officials warned of an influenza outbreak.

Recent Examples on the Web

This way of eating was designed by a team of scientists, nutritionists and chefs to improve public health and bolster the culinary appeal of seasonal Nordic ingredients — foods available in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. — Carrie Dennett, Washington Post, "Herring and pumpernickel, anyone? Try the Nordic diet.," 12 Aug. 2019 This is why a vaccine given well in advance of any possible transmission would be a boon to public health, and women's health in particular. — Erika Edwards, NBC News, "First chlamydia vaccine tested in humans shows early promise," 12 Aug. 2019 Combined with more intense heat waves, like the one that hit Europe this summer, these higher urban temperatures threaten public health, particularly for the young and elderly. — Matt Simon, WIRED, "New IPCC Report Shows How Our Abuse of Land Drives Climate Change," 8 Aug. 2019 If bicycles have any hope of playing a significant role in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and improving public health, something must change. — Dp Opinion, The Denver Post, "Letters: Make room for cycling, make cycling more visible; Zero-emission vehicles good for some, not others; Who was disparaged, Baltimore or president? (8/4/19)," 5 Aug. 2019 What the opioid crisis illustrates is not that there are a few bad apples in the pharmaceutical industry, but that the country’s entire health care system is driven by profit at the expense of public health and safety. — Zachary Siegel, The New Republic, "The Opioid Crisis Is About More Than Corporate Greed," 30 July 2019 The East African country has become a hub for projects that use technological innovation to try meet public health or humanitarian goals. — Annabelle Timsit, Quartz Africa, "Malawi is testing using wearables to measure kids’ well-being," 24 July 2019 But if startups like Pathspot create viable products that can truly scale, and have a significant impact on consumers and areas like public health, why aren’t they being funded at nearly the same rate as startups founded by men? — Allyson Kapin, Quartz, "We’ve debunked tech’s “pipeline problem.” So why aren’t more women getting funding?," 24 July 2019 Mayeda said the goal in her research is to help policymakers identify strategies to improve public health on a population level. — Jorie Goins, chicagotribune.com, "Having a paying job may help fend off Alzheimer’s disease in women," 24 July 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'public health.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

16 Aug 2019

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The first known use of public health was in 1617

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More Definitions for public health

public health

noun

English Language Learners Definition of public health

: the health of people in general

US : the science of caring for the people of a community by giving them basic health care and health information, improving living conditions, etc.

See the full definition for public health in the English Language Learners Dictionary

public health

noun

pub·lic health | \ ˌpəb-lik-

Medical Definition of public health

: the art and science dealing with the protection and improvement of community health by organized community effort and including preventive medicine and sanitary and social science