Essential public health services: Going global

The increasingly global nature of public health requires a common understanding of public health practices across countries and continents. The “10 Essential Public Health Services” has become the organizing framework for describing, evaluating, and improving public health practice in the United States. Less well known in the U.S. is the list of “11 Essential Public Health Functions” adapted from the U.S. by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO). The concordance of the two models (U.S. and WHO/PAHO) allows the opportunity to describe how public health is played out in very different geopolitical contexts. This common vocabulary and conceptual framework can enhance international understanding and cooperation for the improvement of public health in this increasingly inter-connected world. This presentation illustrates the international application of the Essential Public Health Functions/Services framework to the Cuban health system observed during the 2010 APHA delegation to Cuba. This presentation describes the Cuban geo-political context. It then provides a cross-walk of the WHO/PAHO Essential Public Health Functions to the U.S. Essential Public Health Services. It provides a brief history of the development and use of the frameworks. It includes illustrations of how the Cuban system carries out essential services. The conclusion addresses commonalities and differences between the Cuban and U.S. systems. It gives recommendations for strengthening the US system by applying lessons learned from the international public health functions framework.