Key milestone of the last 100 years.

• Position: Public Health - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Public health is what our society does collectively to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy. Because public health success in prevention and protection often is invisible to the society it serves, its value is hidden. The exhibition "Milestones in Public Health: Accomplishments in Public Health Over the Last 100 Years," based on a book of the same name, highlights how public health is fundamental to the well-being of our nation and is at the center of every family and community.

The exhibition "celebrates the discoveries, solutions, and innovations in public health over the last century. More importantly, it showcases the manner in which complex public health challenges were addressed through the creative thinking and expert problem-solving skills of key individuals and institutions," explains Barbara A. DeBuono, senior medical director of Pfizer, Inc. "Public health problems are best solved when science, policy, politics, and the media converge to construct the best solution and make a difference. We hope that the [exhibition] will serve as a useful tool for public health students and professors in provoking thoughtful discussion and exploration of how public health challenges are met and continue to evolve. Mostly, we hope [it] will inspire a new generation of public health professionals."

The exhibition is broken down into the following categories: Addiction; Automotive Safety; Cancer; Cardiovascular Disease; Environmental Health; Food Safety; Infectious Disease Control; Maternal and Child Health; Oral Health; Vaccines; and Public Health Infrastructure.

"Milestones" celebrates innovative solutions to public health challenges and the people and institutions that have implemented them. It seeks to reinforce a core trait of public health, namely that success redefines the challenge. Advances in disease prevention and treatment often result in the public health...