The United States has one of the best and modern health systems in the world. The country’s health system aim at ensuring that address various issues related to healthcare literacy, and patient health and safety. Therefore, the country has established numerous public health organizations to help in achieving these shortlisted objectives. These organizations include the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). These shortlisted organizations collaborate in addressing issues related to patient health and safety, and health literacy as well, thus the agencies have been tasked with numerous roles to help the country’s health system to achieve the mentioned objectives.
These organizations assume various roles in their objective to addressing issues related to patient health and safety, and health literacy. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) play a significant role in addressing issues of patient safety and health literacy in the U.S. The CDC’s key activities concerning the issue in the discussion include: detecting and establishing appropriate response measures that the country’s health system can adopt to prevent the spread or treat an emerging infectious or threatening disease; ensuring that the biggest health problems that adversely affect the general public by contributing to death and disability are well-addressed; and promoting effective treatments for all Americans regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation. CDC is also tasked with promoting health education on how individuals can maintain healthy and safe behaviors within their communities, and environments; and developing and training health professionals related to how they can address some new emerging health threats and educate the patients on the best practices they can adopt at a particular time (Iskander, Rose, & Ghiya, 2017). For instance, during this coronavirus pandemic, CDC is tasked with the role of training health professionals on how to prevent the spread of the disease amongst themselves and patients as well, and educate the general public on what measures they should adopt to prevent the spread of the disease. Furthermore, CDC is tasked with integrating the use of science and advanced technology into the country’s health system to help prevent the spread of diseases and assist in the treatment of various illnesses.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also plays a significant role in protecting the general public’s health, safety, and quality of life. FDA is tasked with ensuring that safe and effective drugs are available, improving the health of patients; evaluating new drugs before they can be sold; and reviewing information of new drug applications to prevent the production and distribution of unsafe drugs across the country (Kaplan & Stern, 2018). The organization also actively monitors and ensures the safety of all drugs after approval and analyzes reports of adverse reactions submitted by various pharmaceutical companies. HRSA ensures that people without resources or living in underserved areas or those without resources receive high-quality healthcare. The organization administers a comprehensive health care delivery system to ensure the delivery of quality healthcare for these groups and develops and manages health and educational programs to ensure that the health needs of every individual in the underserved areas are met.
The NIH also plays an essential role in addressing issues related to patient health and safety and health literacy. The agency is tasked with conducting and supporting research about various health aspects (Reddy et al., 2019). These health aspects that the organization is tasked to research include processes of human growth and development, causes, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of human diseases, biological effects of environmental contaminants. The organization also has been tasked with the role of disseminating information to health professionals and the general public about new emerging diseases across the country. The Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration play the role of fostering improvement in treatment by emphasizing the importance of knowledge of both mental health and substance abuse treatment. It also ensures the integration of substance abuse and mental health concerns in health programs. ATSDR is also has a fundamental role to play with regard to protecting the general public’s health, safety, and quality of life. ATSDR is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the health safety of the general public by protecting Americans from the effects of exposure to hazardous substances (Somers & Ulirsch, 2016). The agency achieves this objective by conducting research on the health impacts of hazardous waste sites, and building capabilities of and providing actionable guidance to federal and state health partners.
Ensuring patient safety and promoting health literacy are some of the main objectives of the United States’ health system. Therefore, federal and state governments have put in place efforts aimed at ensuring that Americans are well educated and ensuring that patient safety is maintained and patient health is improved. Various organizations have been established and work in collaboration with the mentioned issues. These organizations NIH, ATSDR, HRSA, CDC, FDA, and Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration. These organizations are interrelated as they help in protecting the health of the general public, ensuring safety, and educating the public about various aspects that may adversely affect their health.
References
Iskander, J., Rose, D. A., & Ghiya, N. D. (2017). Science in emergency response at CDC: structure and functions. American journal of public health, 107(S2), S122-S125. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303951
Kaplan, A. V., & Stern, A. D. (2018). The central and unacknowledged role of the U.S food and drug administration in the design and execution of medical device pivotal trials. JAMA Cardiology, 3(1), 5-6. https:// doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2017.4038
Reddy, B. P., Walters, S. J., Duenas, A., Thokala, P., & Kelly, M. P. (2019). A role for MCDA to navigate the trade-offs in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s public health recommendations. Operations Research for Health Care, 23, 100179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orhc.2019.02.001
Somers, T. S., & Ulirsch, G. V. (2016). Direct from ATSDR: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Child Care Safe Siting Initiative. Journal of environmental health, 78(10), 40-43. https://doi.org/10.2307/26330478