11 Public Health Issues We Must Solve in 2023

Prevalence

How many people have the disease or the symptom in a given period of time? Diseases that are prevalent in certain areas or populations and significantly impact health, longevity and quality of life may require long-standing programs and actions to defeat. For example, rural communities suffer more heart disease than urban communities, making it a public health concern in those regions.

Severity

Severity involves issues such as the impact of a disease on the patient, how serious its symptoms are and how expensive it is to treat. For example, the common cold is prevalent and is certainly a nuisance. However, it’s rarely severe and just as likely to go away on its own as it is to respond to treatment. Flu, on the other hand, can be very severe depending on the strain and requires public health prevention methods.

Communicability

Communicability and contagiousness are often conflated. However, a disease may be infectious but not contagious; for example, tetanus is an infection caused by bacteria. It can’t be transmitted to another person. On the other hand, strep throat is an infection that’s also caused by bacteria, but it’s very contagious and can be transmitted to others.

Preventability

Immunizations and vaccines are the first line of defense in preventing many diseases. However, other conditions are more challenging. The reason is that behaviors and habits that are hard to break cause these conditions. Nicotine in tobacco is a highly addictive substance, and smoking is one of the toughest habits to break. In the case of tobacco, drug and alcohol use, or diseases caused by obesity, public health programs focus on education and community resources.

Similarly, diseases caused by poor air, water or food quality may not be preventable unless a government provides funding to fix necessary infrastructure.

Potential for Outbreak

How likely is an outbreak among a population? Public health agencies use various tools, including data modeling and statistical analysis, to identify potential disease outbreaks and determine a response. For example, the CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics used these techniques to forecast the severity of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Control Measures

Infection control is a critical part of public health operations. Measures range from handwashing and simple hygiene to vigorous decontamination and quarantine. Other control measures are less simple. For example, the goal of a cigarette tax is to discourage smoking. Laws against selling alcohol to minors are meant to prevent teens and children from abusing alcohol. Control measures include seatbelt laws, speed limits and workplace safety regulations to prevent accidents.

Type of Surveillance

Local, state and federal public health agencies monitor COVID-19 cases to keep ahead of outbreaks.  Other surveillance operations help track lead poisoning, foodborne outbreaks, hepatitis and other illnesses. Disease surveillance is an early warning system that can identify public health issues before they reach crisis mode.

Examples of Public Health Issues

As mentioned, tobacco, drug and alcohol use are examples of public health issues. These behaviors can have a severe impact on individuals and their communities, hence their designation as public health concerns. Similarly, Type 2 diabetes, which is prevalent in many underserved communities, is linked to poor quality of life and lower life expectancy. Other issues include the following:

HIV/AIDS

From the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, HIV has infected 84 million people and killed 40 million people worldwide. Currently 38.4 million people live with HIV/AIDS. The disease continues to wreak havoc. A vaccine is currently in development. The treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS was stymied for years due to prejudice against gay men, who were at higher risk for contracting the disease.

Public health measures to treat and prevent AIDS include research funding, education and testing programs. Drug protocols have turned AIDS into a chronic disease for many sufferers.

Cardiovascular Disease

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Stroke is the fifth-leading cause. The goal of public health is to reduce the toll that heart disease takes on patients and their families through education and programs and to improve people’s eating and exercise habits.

An example of a public health intervention is the move to reduce salt intake, as sodium is linked to high blood pressure, a leading indicator of heart disease and stroke. Another measure has been to include calorie counts on restaurant menus. However, results have been mixed.

Obesity

Obesity correlates with many health issues, especially chronic conditions including diabetes, heart disease, depression, stroke and cancer. It can lead to gestational diabetes in pregnant women and is also connected to infant mortality.

According to the CDC, the annual medical cost of obesity is more than $170 billion. Public health measures such as banning sugary soft drinks from kids’ menus have been controversial. Obesity also correlates to food insecurity. Many public health programs seek to address food hunger issues, especially among children.

Food Safety

In 1993, 700 people got sick from eating hamburgers contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Four children died. Food recalls have become a common occurrence, as food may be contaminated during processing and shipping. Local, state and federal public health agencies monitor foodborne illnesses to identify outbreaks and causes. Surveillance and regulations help prevent illness and death. Public agencies work with private companies to identify food hazards and prevent them from entering the food supply.

10 Current Public Health Issues in 2023

As these examples of public health issues illustrate, every era has its public health challenges. These challenges are often complex and not easily overcome. Since public health, policy and public discourse intersect, a lack of acceptance by people, politicians and business leaders may constrain public activities.

In addition to the aforementioned public health examples, public health officials in 2022 face several challenges. These health challenges are thorny and deep-rooted. In some cases, it took the pandemic to bring them to the attention of the general public. Some of these current issues aren’t even specifically health or medical in nature. However, they’ve had a great impact on the well-being of millions of people and have either enhanced or hampered the effectiveness of public agencies.