Introduction
The world has gone through several changes since the Mesopotamian times when human beings started inventing different tools and machinery to make work easier. People focused on other things such as stabilization of human health As Mesopotamians focused on evolving agriculture. In this manner, there are several improvements, which have been done in the health care industry for the past decades. The introduction of new and improved products, services, and activities in the world leads to new health issues globally that require immediate attention. In this manner, the experts in the health care industry have to be smart enough to come up with ways to mitigate the health issues that arise. In the same way, children will always be born in the world, which means that child welfare is an important aspect to be given enough attention. In the same way as public health, child welfare is important and the past has proven enough by coming up with evolution in the sector. Experts say that health is everything. If we are not healthy then the whole world will crumble down. What is the history of evolution on public health? Who are the pioneers of the public health evolution? What are the basic public health technologies introduced to make the world a better place? Similarly, Who are the pioneers of child welfare? What are the advancements introduced in the industry to ensure that child welfare is taken care of with caution and effectiveness? The paper will focus on the evolution process in the public health sector and child welfare globally.
History provides a brief understanding of the health problems, which existed that led to the evolution of public health. All the health care services and remedies wouldn’t exist were it not for the problems that arose since prehistoric times (Tulchinsky & Varavikova, 2014). Several historic pieces of evidence have been found introducing bits about the history o public health. For instance, Egyptian texts found dating to around 1900 BCE shows that people practiced human medicine, mathematics, and veterinary science. Egypt is among the first civilized countries or colonies to ever exist in the world. In addition, Egyptians made sure to make recordings of all the activities they carried out.
During these times when agriculture and irrigation started, people succumbed to parasitic diseases. At this time, Greek Empire had also grown and was known far and wide. Egyptians sort to incorporate Greek medicine to cure the sick. Egyptians started public health through the introduction of drainage gutters and an emphasis on public hygiene. According to the EbersPapyrus, a document on Egyptian medicine, they had introduced the seclusion and isolation protocol on the sick people to carry out more research on the disease they experience.
Moving on to The Great Roman Empire, these people had improved and experienced innovations on health matters. The Romans had perfected skills such as towns planning, military camp sanitation, medical care, construction of public latrines and baths, and drainage systems. All these are factors that affect public health. Like Egypt, the Roman Empire focused on maintaining a healthy empire due to war, which they needed their men strong (Tulchinsky & Varavikova, 2014). Therefore, health was a priority in the region. The empire constructed multiple public baths and latrines to serve the poor who could not construct their own to ensure they were healthy. With time, this expertise had moved to many countries, leading to the introduction of these necessities of public health to Europe, America (formerly known as the New World), and the Middle East. The Roman empire also introduced garbage disposal activities to remove any form of dirt in the streets. All these public health activities crossed over to several countries during the time.
Years followed and diseases started to appear, affecting a large group. For instance, leprosy is among the first diseases to affect a large group. Due to this, there was the urge to come up with medical practitioners, who would serve the needs in the health care sector. During the 8th and 12th centuries, there were monastery hospitals, which were constructed to care for the sick and the dying. These monasteries paved the way for the construction of bigger hospitals in the future. For instance, Britain had already constructed 750 hospitals by the 15th century.
In 1224, Emperor Frederick II of Sicily introduced a regulation on practicing medical practice to ensure that those who practiced medical practice were well learned (Tulchinsky & Varavikova, 2014). A universal medical practice was established that required licensing to be issued for individuals who studied 3 years of philosophy and 5 years of medicine, and an additional year of general supervision. In the same way, the idea was passed on globally and people started to learn more about the medical practice to ensure enough medical practitioners in the industry.
Since these medieval times, there have been diseases that come up and are treated due to the advancements that are introduced due to technological advances. In addition, the colonial period also led to an increase in the spread of public health since the colonizers had to construct their medical facilities and those for their subjects (Tulchinsky & Varavikova, 2014). One thing led to another and in the industrial revolution era, industrialization, urbanization, and globalization led to poor human settlement environments. For instance, overcrowding led to poor nutrition, sanitation, poor housing, and poor working conditions. All these factors led to the spread of diseases.
The eighteenth-Century Reforms led to the beginning of improved medical practice. Philosophers Diderot, Voltaire, John Locke, and Rousseau among others introduced a new approach to medicine. These philosophers introduced the concept of research, philosophical debate, and systematic testing of samples to provide cure and medicine for conditions. Since then, there has been systematic testing for diseases (Tulchinsky & Varavikova, 2014). Some basic inventions were made such as the use of lemons to cure scurvy as introduced by John Woodall, between 1570-1643. Nowadays, experts carry out testing and research to develop medicines, cures, and vaccines for diseases that come up.
Child Welfare
Child welfare was also an important aspect until now. There was the urge to reduce incidences of children getting sick since most of the sicknesses affected children considering they have weak immune systems. in the past, public servants had to pass public awareness to reduce the incidences of sickness. During the nineteenth century, France introduced preventive care as a service to add on the curative care for children and women. The initiative was started in unsanitary urban slums by installing “Milk Stations,” formerly known as “Gouttes de lait.” The country then expanded the initiative by advocating for breastfeeding and the supply of clean milk to children. This effort was directed towards reducing infant deaths in France. Other countries introduced similar child welfare initiatives in the cities and towns (McGowan, 2014). The United States and European countries introduced a similar initiative and advanced it using the development of pediatrics to specialize in child nutrition. Child welfare systems increased globally after Britain realized that there were many children left orphans. This led to the introduction of foster homes, where orphans were kept until able families adopted them.
The history of the evolution of public health and child welfare has introduced several changes in the world. For instance, the global community has reached a stage where any disease that comes up can be detected earlier and cured found. We have had several pandemics globally over the years and the evolution of public health has facilitated medical practitioners who are experts in the particular field developing cure for the virus or bacteria. For instance, poliomyelitis became a pandemic before World War II leading to the crippling of millions of children globally. However, the continuous evolution helped the experts develop cures and vaccines for Poliomyelitis. Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin were the pioneers of the production of the poliomyelitis vaccine in 1955 and 1961 respectively.
As humans, we now say that the pioneers who took part in the introduction of public health safety services and products made the health care sector a productive industry. Nowadays, vaccines come in and we are assured of safety from public health issues. Historic writings from Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, Greek intelligence, and Roman skillset paved way for public health advancement in the world.
Conclusion
The world is created into a safe and better place as a result of the efforts of pioneers in the past. It is through efforts by people such as the Roman empires to create a safe environment to live in. Through their efforts, experts can produce any vaccine or medicine to help protect us from any disease. For instance, Covid-19 came in and the medical experts globally worked to find a cure for the virus. In addition, there are now several vaccines that have been produced and distributed globally to prevent an occurrence of the same disease in the future.
References
McGowan, B. G. (2014). Historical evolution of child welfare services. In Child welfare for the twenty-first century (pp. 11-44). Columbia University Press.
Tulchinsky, T., & Varavikova, E. (2014). A History of Public Health. The New Public Health, 1-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-415766-8.00001-x
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