Changes in My Lifetime - Public Health

Successes

• 1945: Fluoridation of Drinking Water
• 1953: Decoding DNA, Genetic disorders
• 1954: Organ Transplants
• 1955: Polio vaccine, (Joke at bottom)
• 1959: Lactose intolerance
• 1962: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring
• 1964: Surgeon General's Report on Smoking
• 1965: Medicare
• 1969: Birth control pill
• 1970: OHSA (workplace safety)
• 1970: Clean Air Act, EPA
• 1972: Clean Water Act
• 1973: Homosexuality removed from DSM
• 1975: Smoke Detectors
• 1976: Routine Mammograms
• 1979: Smallpox eradication
• 198x: Peptic Ulcers caused by Helicobacter pylori
• 1996: Lead out of gasoline
• 1999: Breastfeeding ammendment

New problems

• 1957: Asian Flu
• 196x: Prions, Mad Cow disease BSE
• 197x: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• 1975: Lyme Disease
• 1976: Legionaires Disease
• 1976: Ebola, Viral hemorrhagic fever
• 1977: Nestlé boycott
• 1977: Alzheimer's disease
• 1981: AIDS, HIV
• 1981: MRSA
• 199x: Obesity
• 1994: Multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)
• 1999: West Nile virus
• 2002: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
• 2003: Avian influenza (Bird Flu)

Screwups

• 1961: Thalidomide
• 1961: Agent Orange
• 1972: Laetrile
• 1979: Power lines cause cancer QuackWatch
• 1985: Therac-25
• 1986: Chernobyl
• 1993: Cell phones cause cancer, Bob Park

Traffic safety

• 1958: Seat Belts
• 1967: Crumple zones
• 1980: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
• 1984: Air bags
• Divided highways
• Breakdown lanes
• Child safety seats

Links

• CDC: Ten Great Public Health Achievements -- United States, 1900-1999
• The New Yorker: Baby Food If breast is best, why are women bottling their milk?

Cartoons

• Habitat