Of 5 field of public health activities, two activities including the hygiene education activities and social engineering is related to health education activities. While the activities in the field of sanitation, eradication of diseases, and health services actually not just providing physical infrastructure, health facilities and treatment alone but needs efforts to provide understanding and awareness to the community about the benefits and importance of efforts or the physical facilities within the framework of the maintenance, enhancement and restoration their health. If not accompanied with these efforts, the means or facility or service is not less successful and optimal.
In many developing countries, including Indonesia, the efforts of public health is a major effort. This is done because this business is considered cheaper and more positive than cure. “Preventing Cheaper and Easier than Treat”.
Costs required for treatment far outweigh the cost of healthcare. Even this treatment costs will continue to rise with the increasing sophistication of medical technology used in the business of healing.
Different from past efforts are focused on the business of treatment, ie treating those already sick with all the suffering and losses they cause. Currently, a major effort to achieve the level of health, which aims to prevent the public not to fall ill and maintains that people remain or even become more healthy. Thus, it can be reduced material loss, suffering, and can also prevented the occurrence of defects.
Defects that occur in infants, children, and labor is very detrimental to society and the State. In addition, defects are suffering to be borne by the public during his lifetime. All of this, especially in terms of human resource development can not be allowed.
An example is the case of vitamin A deficiency is someone that case, which can be followed by Trachoma disease and blindness. Throughout the life of these children will have to live in darkness with various limitations and heavy reliance.
Another example that is currently very alarming is the number of traffic accidents among young children and are often on the brain, an organ that is most valuable to humans; if not dead, then it is often left behind defect accidents.
In addition, there are many more infectious diseases that can leave defects, such as Poliomelitis, hepatitis, encephalitis, and so on. This disability memerl; ukan rehabilitation programs are quite expensive, and also increase the load of a productive society.
In principle, the prevention and eradication of the disease should be carried out with full public participation. So the people themselves who can eradicate the disease or improve health. So that the public can be protected from the disease, the public should be able to adopt healthy behaviors. Capabilities as well as community participation in combating the disease is expected to be generated by the efforts of public health.
Environmental Sanitation
One is the public health efforts to address the problems that interfere with public health sanitation. Efforts to improve and enhance the environmental sanitation is a public health activities.