Public Health is an effort to overcome sanitation problems which affect health. In other words, public health is same with sanitation.
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Effort to improve and enhance the environmental sanitation is a public health activity. At the end of 18th century, by the finding of bacteria that caused disease and some types of immunization, public health activity was prevention of diseases that occurred in a community through environmental sanitation improvement and the prevention of disease through immunization.
At the beginning of 19th century, public health was already well developed; public health was defined as integration application among medicine, sanitation, and social sciences in the prevention of disease in community.
At the beginning of 20th century, Winslow (1920), public health was science and art: preventing disease, prolonging life and improving health, through the "Community Organizing efforts" to:
a. environmental sanitation improvement
b. Eradication of infectious diseases
c. Education for personal hygiene
d. Organization of medical services and treatment for early diagnosis and treatment
e. Development of social engineering to ensure everyone met the needs of decent living in maintaining health.
American Medical Association (1948), public health is science and art of maintaining, protecting and improving public health through community organizing efforts. It also includes the community efforts in the provision of health services, prevention and eradication of the disease.
