Question

1)    Considering two of the 10 Great Public Health Achievements presented in Chapters 1, what were the contributions of laws or regulations to the control of infectious diseases and motor-vehicle safety? (A useful exercise would be to consider the role of laws in the remaining eight Great Achievements.

Answer 1

The first report in this series focuses on vaccination, which has resulted in the eradication of smallpox; elimination of poliomyelitis in the Americas; and control of measles, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, Hemophilus influenzae type b, and other infectious diseases in the United States and other parts of the world. 

Ten Great Public Health Achievements: 

1)     Vaccination 

2)     Motor-vehicle safety 

3)     Safer workplaces 

4)     Control of infectious diseases 

5)     Decline in deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke 

6)     Safer and healthier foods 

7)     Healthier mothers and babies 

8)     Family planning 

9)     Fluoridation of drinking water 

10)   Recognition of tobacco use as a health hazard

Þ   Improvements in motor-vehicle safety have resulted from engineering efforts to make both vehicles and highways safer and from successful efforts to change personal behavior (e.g., increased use of safety belts, child safety seats, and motorcycle helmets and decreased drinking and driving). These efforts have contributed to large reductions in motor-vehicle-related deaths 

Þ   Decline in deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke have resulted from risk-factor modification, such as smoking cessation and blood pressure control coupled with improved access to early detection and better treatment. Since 1972, death rates for coronary heart disease have decreased 51%