3.7: The 20th Century and Beyond
Public health continued to take major steps in the 20th century, much of which was spurred on by the previous century’s advances in medicine, responses to wars and military medicine, and subsequent changes in the most common causes of disease and death. As infectious diseases were the primary focus of most public health efforts in the early 1900s, this evolved to necessarily address chronic health conditions, behavioral health, environmental health, and social determinants of health by the 2000s. Although worldwide public health efforts were equally as complicated and important, this section of the chapter will shift to focus on the history of public health in the United States, highlighting several key advances, catastrophes, and controversies that have shaped public perceptions and discourse of public health in the current century.