Swiss Argentines
Swiss Argentines are Argentine citizens of Swiss ancestry or people who emigrated from Switzerland and reside in Argentina. The Swiss Argentine community is the largest group of the Swiss diaspora in Latin America. 44,000 Swiss emigrated to Argentina until 1940, who settled in the provinces of Córdoba and Santa Fe and, to a lesser extent, in Buenos Aires. In 1856, 200 families of immigrants from Switzerland, France, Italy and Luxembourg founded the city of Esperanza, the forerunner of agricultural colonies in Argentina, thus kickstarting a long process of European colonization and immigration. In Río Negro, Swiss settlement began in the early 19th century in the village of Colonia Suiza. An Argentine of Swiss origin, Dr. Ernesto Alemann, founded the Colegio Pestalozzi in 1934 with the aim of creating a place for free and humanistic education in accordance with the philosophy of Swiss pedagogue Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. Félix Fernando Bernasconi was a Swiss Argentine shoe manufacturer to whom Francisco Moreno sold a property on the southside of Buenos Aires.
On this site Moreno had established a charitable school. After the death of Bernasconi in 1914, additional funding by the Argentine government allowed to build the largest school in Buenos Aires at the time, called the Bernasconi Institute, which opened in 1929. Associated with Moreno was Santiago Roth, a Swiss immigrant. Roth became a famous Argentine paleontologist who had joined Moreno on many expeditions to Patagonia and whom Moreno established as Head of the Paleontology Department at the La Plata Museum. In addition, Emilio Frey, son of a Swiss immigrant and educated in Switzerland, became an important partner of Moreno as topographer of the Comisión de limites Argentina-Chile from 1896 to 1902 to work out a new treaty for the border between the two countries. Swiss immigration to Argentina began in February 1856 when the first group with a total of 421 European immigrants arrived in Santa Fe and by June there were established about 200 farming families, about 1,400 people, of which more than 50% were French and German-speaking Swiss.
The first colony founded by these Swiss settlers was called Esperanza, this being the main and largest Swiss colony in Argentina. The grants were awarded by lottery in 1862 and the final installment of property was given to its new occupants; the province of Entre Ríos received a lot of Swiss immigrants those from French-speaking Switzerland. Many of these Franco-Swiss along with French immigrants contributed to the founding of several colonies in the province; the first agricultural and livestock production colony in Entre Ríos was founded in 1857: San José under the auspices of President Justo José de Urquiza. Its inhabitants spoke French, Italian and/or German and some were Catholic while others were Protestant. Democratic coexistence rules were introduced and secret suffrage was performed for the first time in Argentina's history. Another colony was Villa Urquiza, made up of Swiss families that had the province of Corrientes as their original destination but ended up settling in Entre Ríos.
In 1869 the colony of Grutly, Santa Fe was founded, followed by the colonies of Santa María, Colonia Nueva and Rivadavia, by Swiss and Italian immigrants. In Río Negro there is a town called Colonia Suiza where the Swiss settlement was formed in the late nineteenth century. Many Swiss settlers, who had spent more than a decade in Chile, arrived in the city of Bariloche and its surroundings. One of the major Swiss pioneers was Guillermo Lehmann, who founded several villages and towns between 1870 and 1880, with Rafaela, Santa Fe being one of the most important settlements. In 1872, the colony inspector Guillermo Wilcken recorded 16,678 foreign inhabitants distributed in 34 colonies in the provinces of Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Córdoba. Of this number, 5,957 were Swiss settlers, followed by Italians, "new Argentines", French and Germans. Meanwhile, a report by the Swiss Consulate of the same date indicates a total of 10,000 Swiss residents in Argentina. One of the main factors that favoured the settlement by immigrants inside the country was the railroad.
Layout of the Central Argentine Railway, from Rosario to Cordoba, encouraged the settlement of colonies along the railroad tracks. Since 1870, the Swiss were chosen to start the large-scale settlement, thus arose the agricultural settlements of Bernstadt, Carcarañá, Cañada de Gómez, Tortugas and many others. Argentines of European descent German Argentines French Argentines Digitized Library of Works on the History of Swiss Immigration to Argentina
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem Akil is an Argentine politician, President of Argentina from July 8, 1989 to December 10, 1999. He has been a Senator for La Rioja Province since December 10, 2005. Born in Anillaco, Menem became a Peronist during a visit to Buenos Aires, he led the party in his home province of La Rioja, was elected governor in 1973. He was deposed and detained during the 1976 Argentine coup d'état, was elected governor again in 1983, he defeated the Buenos Aires governor Antonio Cafiero in the primary elections for the 1989 presidential elections, which he won. Hyperinflation forced outgoing president Raúl Alfonsín to resign early, shortening the presidential transition. Menem supported the Washington Consensus, tackled inflation with the Convertibility plan in 1991; the plan was complemented by a series of privatizations, was a success. Argentina re-established diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom, suspended since the 1982 Falklands War, developed special relations with the United States.
The country suffered two terrorist attacks. The Peronist victory in the 1993 midterm elections allowed him to force Alfonsín to sign the Pact of Olivos for the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution; this amendment allowed Menem to run for re-election in 1995. A new economic crisis began, the opposing parties formed a political coalition that won the 1997 midterm elections and the 1999 presidential election. Menem ran for the presidency again in 2003, but faced with a defeat in a ballotage against Néstor Kirchner, he chose to pull out of the ballotage handing the presidency to Kirchner, he was elected senator for La Rioja in 2005. At 88, he is the oldest living former Argentine president. Carlos Saúl Menem was born in 1930 in Anillaco, a small town in the mountainous north of La Rioja Province, Argentina, his parents, Saúl Menem and Mohibe Akil, were Syrian nationals from Yabroud who had emigrated to Argentina. He attended elementary and high school in La Rioja, joined a basketball team during his university studies.
He visited Buenos Aires in 1951 with the team, met the president Juan Perón and his wife Eva Perón. This influenced Menem to become a Peronist, he studied law at the National University of Córdoba, graduating in 1955. After President Juan Peron's overthrow in 1955, Menem was incarcerated, he joined the successor to the Peronist Party, the Justicialist Party. He was elected president of its La Rioja Province chapter in 1973. In that capacity, he was included in the flight to Spain that brought Perón back to Argentina after his long exile. According to the Peronist politician Juan Manuel Abal Medina, Menem played no special part in the event. Menem was elected governor in 1973, he was deposed during the 1976 Argentine coup d'état that deposed the president Isabel Martínez de Perón. He was accused of corruption, having links with the guerrillas of the Dirty War, he was detained on March 25, kept for a week at a local regiment, moved to a temporary prison at the ship "33 Orientales" in Buenos Aires. He was detained alongside former ministers Antonio Cafiero, Jorge Taiana, Miguel Unamuno, José Deheza, Pedro Arrighi, the unionists Jorge Triaca, Diego Ibáñez, Lorenzo Miguel, the diplomat Jorge Vázquez, the journalist Osvaldo Papaleo, the former president Raúl Lastiri.
He shared a cell with Juan Perón's personal physician. During this time he helped the chaplain Lorenzo Lavalle, despite being a Muslim. In July he was sent to a permanent prison, his wife Zulema rejected his conversion to Christianity. His mother died during the time he was a prisoner, dictator Jorge Rafael Videla denied his request to attend her funeral, he was released on July 29, 1978, on the condition that he live in a city outside his home province without leaving it. He settled in Mar del Plata. Menem met Admiral Eduardo Massera, who intended to run for president, had public meetings with personalities such as Carlos Monzón, Susana Giménez, Alberto Olmedo; as a result, he was forced to reside in Tandil. He had to report daily to Chief of Police Hugo Zamora; this forced residence was lifted in February 1980. He returned to Buenos Aires, to La Rioja, he resumed his political activities, despite the prohibition, was detained again. His new forced residence was in Formosa Province, he was one of the last politicians to be released from prison by the National Reorganization Process.
Military rule ended in 1983, the radical Raúl Alfonsín was elected president. Menem ran for governor again, was elected by a clear margin; the province benefited from tax regulations established by the military, which allowed increased industrial growth. His party got control of the provincial legislature, he was re-elected in 1987 with 63% of the vote; the PJ was divided in two factions, the conservatives that still supported the political doctrines of Juan and Isabel Perón, those who proposed a renovation of the party. The internal disputes ceased in 1987. Menem, with his prominent victory in his district, was one of the leading figures of the party, disputed its leadership. Antonio Cafiero, elected governor of Buenos Aires Province, led the renewal of the PJ, was considered their most candidate for the presidency. Menem, on the other hand, was seen as a populist leader. Using a big tent approach, he got support from several unrelated political figures; as a result, he defeated Cafiero in the primary elections.
He sought alliances with Bunge and Born, union leaders, former members of Montoneros, the AAA, people from the church, "Carapintadas", etc. He promise
Miguel Lifschitz
Roberto Miguel Lifschitz, is an Argentine politician and civil engineer of the Socialist Party, Governor of the Province of Santa Fe since 2015. Before being elected Governor at the 2015 general election, he was Mayor of Rosario from 2003 to 2011, he obtained his degree at the Engineering Faculty of the National University of Rosario in 1979, worked in the private sector until 1989, when he became Director-General of the Public Housing Service of the city of Rosario, under the socialist administration of Héctor Cavallero. He continued working in various public offices, as Municipal Secretary-General, Public Services' Secretary and General Cabinet Coordinator for the Municipality of Rosario, between June and December 2003, under the administration of Hermes Binner. Lifschitz ran for Mayor of Rosario and was elected in the provincial elections of 7 September 2003 for the period 2003–2007. In 2006 he began acknowledging. In March 2007, a survey showed that Lifschitz would win by a wide margin over any of the other major prospective candidates.
Lifschitz competed in the primaries of the Progressive and Social Front, on 1 July 2007, against Carlos Comi. In the main election of 2 September 2007, he won his reelection for the period 2007–2011 by a landslide over his closest competitor, former Socialist mayor Héctor Cavallero. In the elections of June 14, 2015 was elected as the new governor of the Province of Santa Fe, a position he assumed on December 10. Media related to Miguel Lifschitz at Wikimedia Commons
Rosario, Santa Fe
Rosario is the largest city in the central Argentina province of Santa Fe. The city is located 300 km northwest on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third most populous city in the country, is the most populous city in Argentina, not a provincial capital. With a growing and important metropolitan area, Greater Rosario has an estimated population of 1,276,000 as of 2012. One of its main attractions includes the neoclassical architecture, retained over the centuries in hundreds of residences and public buildings. Rosario is the head city of the Rosario Department and is located at the heart of the major industrial corridor in Argentina; the city is the shipping center for north-eastern Argentina. Ships reach the city via the Paraná River; the Port of Rosario must be dredged periodically. Exports include wheat, hay and other vegetable oils, sugar, meat and wool. Manufactured goods include flour, meat products, other foodstuffs; the Rosario-Victoria Bridge, opened in 2004, spans the Paraná River, connecting Rosario with the city of Victoria, across the Paraná Delta.
Because it plays a critical role in agricultural commerce, the city finds itself at the center of a continuing debate over taxes levied on big-ticket agricultural goods such as soy. Along with Paraná, Rosario is one of the few Argentine cities that cannot point to a particular individual as its founder; the city's patron is the "Virgin of the Rosary", whose feast day is October 7. The asteroid 14812 Rosario was named in its honor. Though the city did not have a clear foundation date or any official acknowledgement thereof, most commentators state that Rosario was founded on 7 October 1793 with a local population of 457 inhabitants. Nonetheless the town was declared as city on 3 August 1852, at the time it was known as Pago de los Arroyos, that is, "land of the streams", a reference to the several small rivers that traverse the southern region of Santa Fe, like the Ludueña Stream, the Saladillo Stream and others, emptying into the Paraná River. In 1689, captain Luis Romero de Pineda received part of the lands of the Pago de los Arroyos by royal decree, as payment for services to the Spanish Crown.
Before that, the area was inhabited by Calchaquí tribes in reducciones, a kind of missions founded by Franciscans. These missions were attacked and destroyed by hostile tribes of the Chaco region. Romero de Pineda established the first permanent settlement, an estancia — intended as farmland, not as a town. In 1719 the Jesuits established Estancia San Miguel; the area was still so scarcely populated. In 1724, another colonial settlement was initiated by Santiago de Montenegro, who set up a mill, drew plans for the future town, built a chapel, was appointed mayor in 1751; the area of control of this local government extended northward from today's Rosario. On February 27, 1812, General Manuel Belgrano raised the newly created Argentine flag on the shores of the Paraná, for the first time; because of this, Rosario is known as the "Cradle of the Argentine Flag". The National Flag Memorial marks the occasion; the province of Santa Fe suffered the civil war that afflicted Argentina after 1820. Demographic growth was slow.
During this period, Rosario was a small settlement and a stop on the way from Santa Fe City to Buenos Aires. In 1823 it was elevated to the category of "village". Charles Darwin travelled through the area in 1832 and described Rosario as "a large town" with about 2,000 residents. In 1841 its port was shut off to foreign trade by a decree of the caudillo and Governor of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel de Rosas which banned navigation of the Paraná and the Paraguay rivers to non-Argentine vessels. On 25 December 1851, a small group of locals and the military guard of the city declared their support for the rival caudillo Justo José de Urquiza; as a reward for their participation in the Battle of Caseros, triumphant Urquiza wrote to the governor of Santa Fe on 9 June 1852 asking for Rosario to be granted city status. Governor Domingo Crespo justified the request at the provincial legislative body, marking the geographically strategic position of the town for national and international trade, on 5 August Rosario was formally declared a city.
Urquiza opened up the river for free international trade. The city's economy and population expanded at an accelerated rate. By 1880, Rosario had become the first export outlet of Argentina. By 1887 it had about 50,000 inhabitants, of which 40% were immigrants, who brought new ideas from Europe and started turning Rosario into a politically progressive city. During part of the second half of the 19th century, there was a movement promoting that the city of Rosario become the capital of the republic. Ovidio Lagos, founder of the oldest Argentine newspaper, La Capital, was one of the strongest defenders of this idea. Rosario was indeed declared the federal capital in three occasions, but each time the law received a veto of the Executive Branch. In the last 15 years of the 19th century, the city more than doubled its population, in part due to immigration. In 1911 the French-owned railway company Ferrocarril Rosario y Puerto Belgrano opened a li
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín Foulkes was an Argentine lawyer and statesman who served as the President of Argentina from 10 December 1983 to 8 July 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically elected president after more than seven years of military dictatorship and is considered the "father of modern democracy in Argentina". Born in Chascomús, Buenos Aires Province, he began his studies of law at the National University of La Plata and was a graduate of the University of Buenos Aires, he was affiliated with the Radical Civic Union, joining the faction of Ricardo Balbín after the party split. He was elected a deputy in the legislature of the Buenos Aires province in 1958, during the presidency of Arturo Frondizi, a national deputy during the presidency of Arturo Umberto Illia, he opposed both sides of the Dirty War, several times filed a writ of Habeas corpus, requesting the freedom of victims of forced disappearances, during the National Reorganization Process. He denounced the crimes of the military dictatorship of other countries, opposed the actions of both sides in the Falklands War as well.
He became the leader of the UCR after Balbín's death, was the Radical candidate for the presidency in the 1983 elections, which he won. When he became president, he sent a bill to the Congress to revoke the self-amnesty law established by the military, he established the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons to investigate the crimes committed by the military, which led to the Trial of the Juntas and resulted in the sentencing of the heads of the former regime. Discontent within the military led to the mutinies of the Carapintadas, leading Alfonsín to appease them with the full stop law and the law of Due Obedience, he had conflicts with the unions, which were controlled by the opposing Justicialist Party. He resolved the Beagle conflict, increased trade with Brazil, proposed the creation of the Contadora support group to mediate between the United States and the Nicaraguan Contras, he passed the first divorce law of Argentina. He initiated the Austral plan to improve the national economy, but that plan, as well as the Spring plan, failed.
The resulting hyperinflation and riots led to his party's defeat in the 1989 presidential elections, won by Peronist Carlos Menem. He continued as the leader of the UCR, opposed the presidency of Carlos Menem, he initiated the Pact of Olivos with Menem in order to negotiate the terms for the 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution. Fernando de la Rúa led a faction of the UCR that opposed the pact, became president in 1999. De la Rúa resigned during the December 2001 riots, Alfonsín's faction provided the support needed for the Peronist Eduardo Duhalde to be appointed president by the Congress. Alfonsín died of lung cancer on 31 March 2009, at the age of 82, was given a large state funeral. Raúl Alfonsín was born on 12 March 1927, in the city of Chascomús, 123 km south of Buenos Aires, his parents were Ana María Foulkes. His father was of Spanish and German descent, his mother was the daughter of Welsh immigrant Ricardo Foulkes and Falkland Islander María Elena Ford. Following his elementary schooling, Raúl Alfonsín enrolled at the General San Martín Military Lyceum, graduating after five years as a second lieutenant.
He did not pursue a military career, began studying law instead. He began his studies at the National University of La Plata, completed them at the University of Buenos Aires, graduating at the age of 23, he married María Lorenza Barreneche, whom he met in the 1940s at a masquerade ball, in 1949. They moved to Mendoza, La Plata, returned to Chascomús, they had six sons, of whom only Ricardo Alfonsín would follow a political career. Alfonsín bought a local newspaper, he joined the Radical Civic Union in 1946, as a member of the Intransigent Renewal Movement, a faction of the party that opposed the incorporation of the UCR into the Democratic Union coalition. He was appointed president of the party committee in Chascomús in 1951, was elected to the city council in 1954, he was detained for a brief time, during the reaction of the government of Juan Perón to the bombing of Plaza de Mayo. The Revolución Libertadora ousted Perón from the national government; the UCR broke up into two parties: the Intransigent Radical Civic Union, led by Arturo Frondizi, the People's Radical Civic Union, led by Ricardo Balbín and Crisólogo Larralde.
Alfonsín did not like the split, but opted to follow the UCRP. Alfonsín was elected deputy for the legislature of the Buenos Aires province in 1958, on the UCRP ticket, was reelected in 1962, he moved to capital of the province, during his tenure. President Frondizi was ousted by a military coup on 29 March 1962, which closed the provincial legislature. Alfonsín returned to Chascomús; the UCRP prevailed over the UCRI the following year, leading to the presidency of Arturo Umberto Illia. Alfonsín was elected a national deputy, vice president of the UCRP bloc in the congress. In 1963 he was appointed president of the party committee for the province of Buenos Aires. Illia was deposed by a new military coup in the Argentine Revolution. Alfonsín was detained while trying to hold a political rally in La Plata, a second time when he tried to re-open the UCRP committee, he was forced to resign as deputy in November 1966. He was detained a third time in 1968 after a political rally in La Plata, he wrote opinion articles in newspapers, under the pseudonyms Alfonso Carrido Lura and Serafín Feijó.
The Dirty War began during this time, as many guerrilla groups rejected both the right-wing mi
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the South American continent's southeastern coast. "Buenos Aires" can be translated as "fair winds" or "good airs", but the former was the meaning intended by the founders in the 16th century, by the use of the original name "Real de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre". The Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas, with a population of around 15.6 million. The city of Buenos Aires is the Province's capital. In 1880, after decades of political infighting, Buenos Aires was federalized and removed from Buenos Aires Province; the city limits were enlarged to include the towns of Flores. The 1994 constitutional amendment granted the city autonomy, hence its formal name: Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, its citizens first elected a chief of government in 1996.
Buenos Aires is considered an'alpha city' by the study GaWC5. Buenos Aires' quality of life was ranked 91st in the world, being one of the best in Latin America in 2018, it is the most visited city in South America, the second-most visited city of Latin America. Buenos Aires is a top tourist destination, is known for its preserved Eclectic European architecture and rich cultural life. Buenos Aires held the 1st Pan American Games in 1951 as well as hosting two venues in the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Buenos Aires hosted the 2018 the 2018 G20 summit. Buenos Aires is a multicultural city, being home to multiple religious groups. Several languages are spoken in the city in addition to Spanish, contributing to its culture and the dialect spoken in the city and in some other parts of the country; this is because in the last 150 years the city, the country in general, has been a major recipient of millions of immigrants from all over the world, making it a melting pot where several ethnic groups live together and being considered one of the most diverse cities of the Americas.
It is recorded under the archives of Aragonese that Catalan missionaries and Jesuits arriving in Cagliari under the Crown of Aragon, after its capture from the Pisans in 1324 established their headquarters on top of a hill that overlooked the city. The hill was known to them as Bonaira, as it was free of the foul smell prevalent in the old city, adjacent to swampland. During the siege of Cagliari, the Catalans built a sanctuary to the Virgin Mary on top of the hill. In 1335, King Alfonso the Gentle donated the church to the Mercedarians, who built an abbey that stands to this day. In the years after that, a story circulated, claiming that a statue of the Virgin Mary was retrieved from the sea after it miraculously helped to calm a storm in the Mediterranean Sea; the statue was placed in the abbey. Spanish sailors Andalusians, venerated this image and invoked the "Fair Winds" to aid them in their navigation and prevent shipwrecks. A sanctuary to the Virgin of Buen Ayre would be erected in Seville.
In the first foundation of Buenos Aires, Spanish sailors arrived thankfully in the Río de la Plata by the blessings of the "Santa Maria de los Buenos Aires", the "Holy Virgin Mary of the Good Winds", said to have given them the good winds to reach the coast of what is today the modern city of Buenos Aires. Pedro de Mendoza called the city "Holy Mary of the Fair Winds", a name suggested by the chaplain of Mendoza's expedition – a devotee of the Virgin of Buen Ayre – after the Sardinian Madonna de Bonaria. Mendoza's settlement soon came under attack by indigenous people, was abandoned in 1541. For many years, the name was attributed to a Sancho del Campo, said to have exclaimed: How fair are the winds of this land!, as he arrived. But Eduardo Madero, in 1882 after conducting extensive research in Spanish archives concluded that the name was indeed linked with the devotion of the sailors to Our Lady of Buen Ayre. A second settlement was established in 1580 by Juan de Garay, who sailed down the Paraná River from Asunción.
Garay preserved the name chosen by Mendoza, calling the city Ciudad de la Santísima Trinidad y Puerto de Santa María del Buen Aire. The short form "Buenos Aires" became the common usage during the 17th century; the usual abbreviation for Buenos Aires in Spanish is Bs. As, it is common as well to refer to it as "B. A." or "BA". While "BA" is used more by expats residing in the city, the locals more use the abbreviation "Baires", in one word. Seaman Juan Díaz de Solís, navigating in the name of Spain, was the first European to reach the Río de la Plata in 1516, his expedition was cut short when he was killed during an attack by the native Charrúa tribe in what is now Uruguay. The city of Buenos Aires was first established as Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre after Our Lady of Bonaria on 2 February 1536 by a Spanish expedition led by Pedro de Mendoza; the settlement founded by Mendoza was located in what is today the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires, south of the city centre. More attacks by the indigenous
Public health
Public health has been defined as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting human health through organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the health of a population and the threats it faces is the basis for public health; the public can be as large as a village or an entire city. The concept of health takes into account physical and social well-being; as such, according to the World Health Organization, it is not the absence of disease or infirmity. Public health is an interdisciplinary field. For example, epidemiology and management of health services are all relevant. Other important subfields include environmental health, community health, behavioral health, health economics, public policy, mental health, occupational safety, gender issues in health, sexual and reproductive health. Public health aims to improve the quality of life through prevention and treatment of disease, including mental health.
This is done through the surveillance of cases and health indicators, through the promotion of healthy behaviors. Common public health initiatives include promotion of handwashing and breastfeeding, delivery of vaccinations, suicide prevention, distribution of condoms to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Modern public health practice requires multidisciplinary teams of public health workers and professionals. Teams might include epidemiologists, medical assistants, public health nurses, medical microbiologists, sociologists, data managers, physicians. Depending on the need, environmental health officers or public health inspectors and veterinarians, gender experts, or sexual and reproductive health specialists might be called on. Access to health care and public health initiatives are difficult challenges in developing countries. Public health infrastructures are still forming in those countries; the focus of a public health intervention is to prevent and manage diseases and other health conditions through surveillance of cases and the promotion of healthy behaviors and environments.
Many diseases are preventable through nonmedical methods. For example, research has shown that the simple act of handwashing with soap can prevent the spread of many contagious diseases. In other cases, treating a disease or controlling a pathogen can be vital to preventing its spread to others, either during an outbreak of infectious disease or through contamination of food or water supplies. Public health communications programs, vaccination programs and distribution of condoms are examples of common preventive public health measures. Measures such as these have contributed to the health of populations and increases in life expectancy. Public health plays an important role in disease prevention efforts in both the developing world and in developed countries through local health systems and non-governmental organizations; the World Health Organization is the international agency that coordinates and acts on global public health issues. Most countries have their own governmental public health agency called the ministry of health, with responsibility for domestic health issues.
In the United States and local health departments are on the front line of public health initiatives. In addition to their national duties, the United States Public Health Service, led by the Surgeon General of the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, headquartered in Atlanta, are involved with international health activities. In Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada is the national agency responsible for public health, emergency preparedness and response, infectious and chronic disease control and prevention; the Public health system in India is managed by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of the government of India with state-owned health care facilities. Most governments recognize the importance of public health programs in reducing the incidence of disease and the effects of aging and other physical and mental health conditions. However, public health receives less government funding compared with medicine. Public health programs providing vaccinations have made strides in promoting health, including the eradication of smallpox, a disease that plagued humanity for thousands of years.
The World Health Organization identifies core functions of public health programs including: providing leadership on matters critical to health and engaging in partnerships where joint action is needed. In particular, public health surveillance programs can: serve as an early warning system for impending public health emergencies. Diagnose and monitor health problems and health hazards of the communityPublic health surveillance has led to the identification and prioritization of many public health issues facing the world today, including HIV/AIDS, waterborne diseases, zoonotic diseases, antibiotic resistance leading to the reemergence of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. Antibiotic resistance kno
