Public Health offers plenty to area residents

Without strong public health protection, living in Iowa could be very different. Less than 100 years ago, the average lifespan ended at age 48.The reasons for the relatively short lifespan included lack of the following: sewers, regulation of septic tanks, restaurant inspections and vaccinations, Chickasaw Public Health Administrator Kathy Babcock wrote for a May 2018 industry publication.This meant untreated water, unsafe food and illness to which society could only react — and not well. (The staple antibiotic penicillin such as amoxicillin was discovered only 90 years ago; sulfonamide “sulfa” antibiotics, 83 years ago.)Though knowing what Public Health offers taxpayers is useful to know any time of year, it is timely because April 2-8 is Public Health Week. This year’s themes are “Get to Know Your Local Public Health” along with “Healthiest Nation 2030-Changing our Future Together.”— Read more on this story in the April 6 New Hampton Tribune.