The Weakness of Public Health Agencies in the United States

From the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to Medicare, Medicaid and even the Public Health Service (PHS), we see that many United States government offices are responsible for regulating and managing various aspects in the health of our nation.

While there are many government agencies involved in the health of our country, impacting our daily lives, we often fail to overlook the most essential responsibilities each of these agencies possess. Agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and even the National Institutes of Health, are responsible for ensuring the general public is protecting from the harm of products and services.

What are the most fundamental roles of the public health government agencies? First, to promote healthy behavior among the U.S. population. In addition, these public health agencies are also charged with the responsibility to protect the public from injury, the spread of disease, environmental hazards and to assist when disaster strikes and aide in restoring communities after disaster. These public health agencies are also responsible for assuring we are provided quality and access to health services.

With the growing number of uninsured Americans, there are many in the political arena who argue the effectiveness of the public health agencies at providing these services. Access to healthcare is certainly not available to all and, in many cases, when available, is not quality driven.

In addition, there is question over the effectiveness of the government public health agencies to manage disaster and recovery, as seen in recent disasters involving the flooding throughout the Midwest, Texas and even in response to Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.