Contrast the population based orientation of public health w/ the individual cen!

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Public health is oriented toward the general population because it has an impact on everyone. The focus of public health is things like preventing epidemics of disease, sponsoring research to create treatments for diseases that effect many people, to make sure drug company claims of effectiveness are based on sound research and don't do more harm than good, making sure drinking water is safe to drink, the air is safe to breathe, that food is not contaminated with poisonous chemicals or bacteria to prevent food borne illnesses and that people have the information necessary to make good decisions about their individual private health.

The focus of private health is about each individual person's health care and health care decisions. However, making sure individuals have access to affordable health care is in the interest of public health. For example, if individuals are unable to have access to affordable immunizations it creates the public health risk of an epidemic when many people are not immunized. If someone does not seek care when something is easily treatable because they have no health insurance, (hoping the problem will go away), and only finally go to the emergency room when they are gravely ill, it clogs emergency rooms, makes emergency rooms and hospitals less available for others and increases overall health costs for everyone which makes it a public health problem.

basically Public health is your insurance you pay for - so the govt treats you.

Private Health is for those people who pay private companies to look after them. Mainly wealthier people can afford this.

Which is better? For what reasons? Is it EVEN true that that public health is not individual based? Are private health companies only individual centered?