A 'health department' is a part of
government which focuses on issues related to the general
health of the
citizenry. Each
subnational entity often also operates a health department which coordinates
county and
city health departments. Health departments perform
food licensing and
food inspection (the person who performs this job is often called a
Health Inspector),
vaccination programs, free
STD and
AIDS tests, and other
medical assistance. Health departments also compile
statistics about
health issues of their area. In
1986, several of the of the worlds' national health departments met to establish an international guideline by which health departments operate. The meeting was in
Ottawa, Canada, and hence the guidelines established are known as the
Ottawa Charter. The Ottawa Charter was designed to ‘achieve Health for All’.
List of federal health departments around the world
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Department of Health and Human Services (United States)
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Health Canada (Canada)
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Scottish Executive Health Department (Scotland)
Health Department Stories
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[1]] Miami-Dade County Health Department, Healthy Stories 2007