During the first week of April, it is designated as National Public Health week. Southeast Utah Health Department Director, Brady Bradford took time from his busy schedule to come into Castle Country Radio to discuss what that means.

Besides all the great services like WIC and immunizations offered by the local health department there is so much more. “You gave a couple of great examples; I think people remember at whatever time of life they remember getting that poke in the shoulder. Obviously, that vaccine protects them but it also in the way of Public Health it protects a lot of other people.  As of WIC, we love administering it because it helps set a child and a family for greater success later in life. That is the essence of Public Health work is you’re putting in preventive measures now that have the intent of saving lives, saving money, saving communities now and in the future,” stated Bradford. The mission statement of the local health department is to assist the residents of our communities to achieve and maintain optimal health and wellness.

There are also tasks that the health department has to conduct that many folks may not know about such as making sure we have good drinking water, good food production and air quality. “All of these things have combined over the past century; human life expectancy has increased by over 30 years. That doesn’t happen by better heart surgeries and better acute care but those huge gains in life expectancy and life quality, come because of public health and public partners,” said Bradford.

One of the biggest campaigns that Public Health help establish was letting folks know about the dangers of tobacco use. “We talk about how tobacco impacts life expectancy and it was Public Health that figured out that constant tobacco use is going to harm the body and kill and lead to unhappy results. That’s been battle we’ve fought for a long time is reducing tobacco use so that we have healthier teens and healthier adults,” said Bradford. There are so many tools and resources available on the Southeast Utah Health Department website at https://seuhealth.com/  from injury prevention to healthy living to poison control and health equity. You can also follow the Southeast Utah Health Department on Facebook.