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Suggested Citation:"PUBLIC HEALTH." National Academy of Medicine. 2022. Transforming Human Health: Celebrating 50 Years of Discovery and Progress. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26722.
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Suggested Citation:"PUBLIC HEALTH." National Academy of Medicine. 2022. Transforming Human Health: Celebrating 50 Years of Discovery and Progress. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26722.
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“When public health does its best job, nothing happens.”

—Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association and NAM Member


Environmental Health

Protecting Resources to Protect People

Reducing Pollutants in American Waters

Protecting Communities from Toxic Waste

Eliminating Ozone-Destroying Chemicals

Revealing the Dangers of Secondhand Smoke

Hurricane Katrina Exposes Health Disparities

The Flint Water Crisis Brings Environmental Health Inequity to the Fore

International Agreement to Slow Climate Change

A Climate Countdown

Health Disparities and Health Equity

Studying Disparities in Minority Health

A National Spotlight on Health Disparities

Creating Protections for Americans with Disabilities

Guiding Culturally Aware Health Care

Identifying Inconsistent Care Quality and Opportunities for Improvement

Digging Deeper into Disparities

New Offices Dedicated to Minority Health

Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage

Gender-Identity-Aware Health Research

Advancing Health Equity at the Community Level

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Federal Support for Family Planning

Birth Control

Abortion as a Health Care Service

Sexual Orientation Is Not a Mental Illness

Cervical Cancer, Human Papillomavirus, and a Cancer Vaccine

Toxic Shock Syndrome

Pharmacological Abortion

Human Egg Preservation

Substance and Alcohol Use Disorders

Classifying and Controlling Substances

Methadone Maintenance Treatment for Opioid Addiction

The Federal “War on Drugs”

Tobacco Use

Formalizing the Treatment of Addiction

Medical and Recreational Marijuana Use

The U.S. Opioid Epidemic

Discrimination, Stigma, and Substance Use Disorder

The Health Effects of Vaping

Injury and Violence Prevention

Prioritizing Worker Safety

Miners’ Safety

Automobile Safety

The Origins of Safety Culture

Firearm Safety

Standards to Address Biological Hazards

Consolidating Injury Prevention and Control

A Workplace Safety Research Agenda

Protections for Servicemembers

Oral, Eye, and Hearing Health

Detecting Hearing Loss in Infants

The Modern Era of Contact Lenses

Advances in Cataract Surgery

Restoring Hearing Through Cochlear Implants

Invention of LASIK Eye Surgery

A Revolutionary New Diagnostic Tool for Eye Diseases

The Benefits of Fluoride

The First Digital Hearing Aid

Alternatives to Braces

Defining the Essential Role of Oral Health

Health Disparities in Dental Care

Removing the Background Noise from Hearing Aids

Healthy Nutrition and Behavior

Establishing Dietary Guidelines

Standardized Nutrition Labeling

Nutrition Science Helps Understand the “Double Burden”

Reduced Use of Trans Fats

Marketing Contributes to Childhood Obesity

Child Nutrition Programs

Health Benefits of Physical Activity

Reducing Sodium Intake

Harmful Effects of Added Sugars

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Establishing a Public Health Agenda

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

Surveying Behavioral Risk

Healthy People 2000

A Roadmap for Community Change

Healthy People 2020 and 2030

Suggested Citation:"PUBLIC HEALTH." National Academy of Medicine. 2022. Transforming Human Health: Celebrating 50 Years of Discovery and Progress. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26722.
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Page 56
Suggested Citation:"PUBLIC HEALTH." National Academy of Medicine. 2022. Transforming Human Health: Celebrating 50 Years of Discovery and Progress. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26722.
×
Page 57
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The past half-century has been an era of astonishing progress for biomedical science, health, and health care in the United States and worldwide. This volume, commissioned to mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM; formerly the Institute of Medicine [IOM]), tells the story of that progress across five major fields: biomedical science and technology, diseases and conditions, public health, U.S. health care, and global health. Since the NAM was founded in 1970, the nation and the world have seen multitudes of remarkable "firsts"—including the dawn of targeted gene therapies, the near eradication of polio, revolutionary treatments for cancers and cardiovascular disease, and many more. NAM members were the architects of many of these breakthroughs, alongside countless dedicated scientists, clinicians, educators, and public health leaders worldwide. The milestones chronicled in this volume are a testament to their remarkable work, which has saved and improved innumerable lives.

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