Includes bibliographical references and index.

The COVID-19 pandemic : a portrait of an epidemic -- Changing lives a "million at a time" : public health is very different than the medical profession -- The evolution of public health practice -- How does pubic health work? : the example of tobacco control -- America's obesity and cardiovascular disease epidemics : possible health solutions -- Preventing diabetes : a public health priority -- Averting cancer rather than waiting to treat it -- Excessive alcohol use : how can it be reduced at a population level? -- Solving the U.S. opioid crisis : a public health challenge -- HIV in the United States : what else can we do? -- Preventing gun violence and promoting highway safety : a study in start contrasts -- Climate change : the importance of water -- Climate change : implications regarding food -- Overpopulation and prevention of unintended pregnancy -- Emerging diseases and the need for vaccine research. 

"When the term civics is used in the context of education, most students and teachers in the United States think about the process of learning about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, co-equal branches of the federal government, and the relationship of state governments to the larger functioning of the nation. Often, however, the approach to civics is less than applied, and the lessons may come across as irrelevant to students. It frequently is not apparent that governments - at all levels - are very much involved in one aspect of our daily lives: promoting and protecting the health of the public. With the year 2020 ushering a global pandemic into the lives of Americans, the term public health quickly became used in everyday language, the media, and the offices and meeting rooms of state and federal elected representatives. For most Americans, this was the first time in their lives that public health was not taken for granted"-- Provided by publisher.