History of Social Medicine and Public Health - a Review

Abstract

Background: The Social Medicine and organization of health is science organized on the application of modern medicine principles in the health care of human groups and nations. The significant difference of social medicine from clinical disciplines is that the clinical medicine deals with problems of individuals and social medicine is devoted to community health and illness of the family, schools and work organizations from population groups to the overall people of one area or country. Public health refers to all organized measures (whether public or private) to prevent disease, promote health and prolong life among the population as a whole. Its activities aim to provide conditions in which people can be healthy and focus on entire populations, not on individual patients or diseases . Objective: The aims of this article are to show, based on the available literature: a) The development of Social medicine and Public health in the World and Bosnia and Herzegovina from the medieval period until the today. b) The most significant historical events that marked the development of Social medicine and Public health with emfesized most important scientists and discoverers with their achievements. Methods: The subject of this study was the development of Social medicine and Public health in the world and in the areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the uncient peertiod until today. In order to achieve the set goals, a) Retreival of professional and scientific literature; and b) Search of scientific databases and web pages on the Internet that offer adequate and relevant data and historical facts related to the subject of studies were carried out. Most of the facts are covered in previously published articles by the author of this paper and deposited in the PubMed and PubMed Central databases, as well as in books and monographs by the author of this text. Results and Discussion: Social medicine with the organization of the health care system is the scientific discipline, defined by the huge contents, clear goal and specific methodology. It has been presented flow of socio-medical development and implementation on worldwide during the past. Public health was defined by Charles-Edward A. Winslow, in 1920. as „the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical health and efficiency through organized community efforts for the sanitation of the environment, the control of community infections, the education of the individual in principles of personal hygiene, the organization of medical and nursing service for the early diagnosis and preventive treatment of disease, and the development of the social machinery which will ensure to every individual in the community a standard of living adequate for the maintenance of health“. The names of those who are deserved for socio-medical development and its insufficiency on the organization on health system and some specific parts of it. Social medicine, and Public health as sciences and profession had high level among other disciplines, but also as profession per se, specially at the international level. There is huge evidence of numerous projects, books, papers, recognized by indigenous and international audience. Conclusion: The most importants role in organizatiionn and realization of all kind of public health activities and measures at every healthcare protection levels has World Health Organization (WHO) with its brench offices at all continents and all countries in the world. The author described information flow how it was happened during the history of its development.