National Public Health Week - April 5-11, 2021

Each year, the important and critical work of Public Health is recognized during National Public Health Week, sponsored by the American Public Health Association (APHA). National Public Health Week provides opportunities for the public to learn more about the many contributions made by public health professionals throughout our nation, state, and here in Olmsted County. This year's campaign theme is "Building Bridges to Better Health." 

Public Health work is often invisible and involves many individuals working quietly behind the scenes. This work provides the foundation of health where we live, work, age, worship, and play.  

• 90% of the nation’s health care costs are for people with chronic conditions, and the majority of those costs are preventable. State and local public health agencies are leading community-driven solutions to expand opportunities that support behavior change through policies, systems, and environmental changes. 
• Public health professionals help communities prevent, prepare for, withstand, and recover from the impact of a full range of health threats, including disease outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, measles, natural disasters, and disasters caused by human activity.
• Public health action, together with scientific and technological advances, has played a major role in reducing and, in some cases, eliminating the spread of infectious disease, and in establishing today’s disease surveillance and control systems.  
• The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the value of a national public health system that monitors the welfare of the entire population, ensures its security and protects it from the spread of infectious disease and environmental hazards, and helps to ensure access to safe and quality care to benefit the population.  
• Our Public Health staff, and others within Olmsted County, have provided countless hours of dedicated service and have taken on new and challenging tasks outside their normal job duties, limiting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic locally in partnership with health care and other organizations in the county. 

Olmsted County residents have been a critical part of our local public health system this past year. They have experienced loss and disruption to their daily lives while demonstrating adaptability and determination to follow public health guidelines to lessen health risks due to COVID-19 for others in our community. Together, we are providing the foundation for a vibrant and healthy community.

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Media Contact: COVID PIO