Celebrate National Public Health Week 2012

Top Pun, a public health professional in a former incarnation, invites you to celebrate National Public Health Week 2012, which for 2012 occurs April 2-8.  The annual health observance, seeks to mobilize communities across the country to recognize the contributions of public health.  The weeklong celebration is always scheduled for the first full week in April.  National Public Health Week is officially sponsored by the American Public Health Association.  This year’s National Public Health Week theme is “A Healthier America Begins Today: Join the Movement!”

Almost one million Americans die each year from preventable diseases.  Even small preventive changes and community health initiatives can make a big difference in living healthier lives. National Public Health Week 2012 will build upon the National Prevention Strategy to create a healthier nation by promoting healthy behaviors in the following areas: active living and healthy eating; alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; communicable diseases; reproductive and sexual health; and mental and emotional well-being.

I have fond memories of working in public health.  My first work in public health was in nutrition which soon expanded to community health education, including tobacco use prevention, nutrition, exercise, and diabetes detection and control. Then, I worked in HIV-AIDS prevention for the decade of the 90s.  I finished my last few years formally in public health working on health planning and community health needs assessment.  As it turned out, I like the work much more than I liked the job, that is, my employer.  Fortunately, getting out of public health work that make him a true, higher calling: to work full-time as the best punster for peace and justice in the English-speaking world.  Also, not by accident, the philosophical basis for public health a social justice, so, in fact, I carry on the core work public health workers.  So, please join me in making every week public health week in 2012.  Thanks!