Celebrating 100 years of Public Health:
How the past has made public health matter
This year marks the 100th anniversary of two
legislative acts that shaped the future of public health in
Ohio. The Hughes Act and Griswold Act, both enacted in 1919,
established the modern day organization of local health
departments and laid the foundation for public health
efforts still in effect today.
As part of National Public Health Week, April 1-7, the
Toledo-Lucas County Health Department is joining local
health departments throughout Ohio to collectively celebrate
100 years of public health with a coordinated promotional
campaign theme, “How the past has made public health
matter.”
Over the past 100 years, since the enactment of
Hughes-Griswold, public health has had a significant impact
on health and quality of life: People are living an average
of 25 years longer; small pox, once a common, deadly
occurrence, has been eradicated; motor vehicle fatalities
have been reduced by 90 percent, and deaths from sudden
infant death syndrome has decreased 50 percent.
Additional accomplishments of public health include: immunizations
for children and adults, the control of infectious diseases,
reduction of tobacco use, safer and healthier foods; better
maternal and infant healthcare; increased preventative
screenings, and public health preparedness and response.
The Hughes-Griswold acts were a continuation of public
health organization that began with founding of the state
board of health in 1886 and a 1906 law requiring each city,
village, and township send a delegate to the state board’s
annual meeting. This is how many city health departments
first started.
As a result of the 1906 law, there were 2,158 independent
health units in Ohio representing cities, villages, and
townships. The variety and quality of services varied
greatly. After a statewide smallpox epidemic in 1917 and the
national influenza epidemic in 1918, it became clear, a more
comprehensive and formalized approach to public health was
necessary.
The Hughes-Griswold acts provided that approach and as
written in the 1920 Ohio Public Health Journal of the
Ohio State Board of Health, it “strengthens the hands of
those charged with responsibility for people’s health as
nothing else could have been done.”
Hughes-Griswold eliminated the village and township units
and based local health administration onto cities and
counties. A uniform structure for each health district was
established, including boards of health, who should be on
the board, plus the creation of the district advisory
council which appointed individuals to the board of health.
The process of combining districts was also outlined. A
minimum of three full-time employees were required for each
district: a health officer, a public health nurse, and a
clerk.
The legislation also spoke to specific “duties” for each
district including basic services still performed today by
local health departments. Those services include data
collection, control and prevention of communicable disease,
food safety, birth and death records, inspection and
abatement of nuisances, and as written in the original
legislation, “all steps necessary to protect the public’s
health and to prevent disease.”
While the last 100 years have been filled with much success
and progress, the next 100 years promises to show the
ever-growing presence and importance of public health in our
everyday lives. This includes the continual emphasis on the
importance of immunizations, maternal and child health, food
safety and vector surveillance, there are new horizons
including harm reduction efforts, health equity, national
accreditation, food deserts and cross-sector partnerships.
For more information about local public health efforts,
check out our website at
www.lucascountyhealth.com.
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