Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the Atlanta, Georgia-based agency of the Public Health Service that has led efforts to prevent diseases such as malaria, polio, smallpox, tuberculosis, and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). As the nation's prevention agency, the CDC's responsibilities have expanded, and it now addresses contemporary threats to health such as injury, environmental and occupational hazards, behavioral risks, and chronic diseases.
Divisions within the CDC use surveillance, epidemiologic and laboratory studies, and community interventions to investigate and prevent public health threats.
The Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion designs programs to reduce death and disability from chronic diseases—cardiovascular, kidney, liver and lung diseases, and cancer and diabetes.
The Center for Environmental Health and Injury Control assists public health officials at the scene of natural or artificial disasters such as volcano eruptions, forest fires, hazardous chemical spills, and nuclear accidents. Scientists study the effects of chemicals and pesticides, reactor accidents, and health threats from radon, among others. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health helps identify chemical and physical hazards that lead to occupational diseases.
Preventing and controlling infectious diseases has been a goal of the CDC since its inception in 1946. The Center for Infectious Diseases investigates outbreaks of infectious disease locally and internationally. The Center for Prevention Services provides financial and technical assistance to control and prevent diseases. Disease detectives in the Epidemiology Program Office investigate outbreaks around the world.
Prevention of tobacco use is a critical health issue for CDC because cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in this country. The Office on Smoking and Health conducts research on the effects of smoking, develops health promotion and education campaigns, and helps health departments with smoking education programs.
CDC researchers have improved technology for lead poisoning screening, particularly in children. CDC evidence on environmental lead pollution was a key in gasoline lead content reduction requirements. The CDC also coordinated and directed health studies of Love Canal, New York, residents in the 1980s. The director of the CDC administers the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the public health agency created to protect the public from exposure to toxic substances in the environment. In 1990, CDC became responsible for energy-related epidemiologic research for the U.S. Department of Energy nuclear facilities. This includes studies of people who have been exposed to radiation from materials emitted to the air and water from plant operations.
The CDC today carries out an ever-widening agenda with studies on adolescent health, dental disease prevention, the epidemiology of violence, and categorizing and tracking birth abnormalities and infant mortality.
Resources
Organizations
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Inquiries/MASO, Mailstop F07, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA USA 30333 Toll Free: (800) 311-3435, , http://www.cdc.gov
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