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Public Health Thank You Day

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Research!America and leading public health organizations take the time to say “thank you” to our public health workforce who work tirelessly every day to protect us from disease, injury, and other health threats. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, these heroes keep our drinking water clean, our communities healthy, and our children safe from harm. Ongoing and often complex public health challenges – both here and abroad – require evidence-based, innovative, and equitable solutions.

This year’s theme, “Why Public Health?” calls attention to the countless ways public health professionals work to promote and protect health and shines a light on their dedication to serving communities across the country and around the globe. Whether it’s ensuring communities have access to healthy foods or tracking diseases to prevent the next outbreak, the public health workforce in the U.S. and globally works continually to make sure we all have the opportunity to live longer, healthier lives.

Let’s take this day to thank the public health workforce, raise the visibility of public health, and welcome a new generation of public health professionals who are eager to continue the mission of improving the well-being of communities nationwide and across the globe.

Join us on  TwitterFacebook, and LinkedIn using the hashtag #PHTYD and #WhyPublicHealth.

What is Public Health?

Public health is the field of science concerned with improving the health of populations. It encompasses everything from research into diseases to preventing injury and promoting healthy lifestyles to detecting and controlling outbreaks. Examples of public health work include anti-smoking campaigns, the development of vaccines against polio, and pinpointing the source of food-borne illness outbreaks. Learn more about the work we’re doing around public health.

“America’s public health system is the cornerstone of the mechanism that ensures we have healthy people in healthy communities. From tracking dangerous infectious diseases like COVID-19 and malaria, reducing chronic diseases like heart attacks and diabetes, bringing down the incidence of automobile crashes, and improving our mental health, to mitigating the impact of climate change; public health impacts every facet of our well-being and promotes a better quality of life. On Monday, November 20, which is ‘Public Health Thank You Day,’ I encourage us all to show our gratitude for the thousands of public health professionals who work 24/7 to ensure we all have the opportunity to live safer, healthier, and longer lives,” said Georges C. Benjamin, MD, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association (APHA).

“During the most challenging health crisis of our time, public health scientists, staff, and clinicians have been at the forefront of research programs and implementation of public health strategies to improve minority health and reduce health disparities. We recognize and appreciate their sacrifice and diligence in helping all communities!” said Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, MD, Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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