The Public Health Service is presenting itself for the first time this year with the Public Health Department Day on March 19. Nationally and internationally, public health departments are an important pillar of public health that receives far too little attention. Johann Peter Frank was born on March 19, 1745 and is considered to be the founder of public hygiene and a socio-medical health service in Germany. "We want to shape living environments in such a way that it becomes easier for people to live healthy lives," says Dr. Thomas Schönauer, head of the health department and doctor.
The health department/health office at Ludwigsburg District Council is taking this day as an opportunity to present its new organizational structure, which now better addresses its core tasks. These are defined in the Public Health Service Act (ÖGDG): In addition to the classic activities in health protection - infection protection and environmental medicine - these include health assistance for children, young people, adults and special groups of people (for example people with disabilities or social disadvantages), health promotion, planning, reporting and, as a new instrument of health promotion at city and municipal level, municipal health conferences. The structure of the health department/health authority with three specialist areas now reflects this.
In addition, the state has set up a medical assessment office at the health department in the Ludwigsburg district office as a key task centrally for the entire administrative district of Stuttgart, which carries out medical assessments of and for civil servants, similar to the medical service of the health insurance companies.
Health department head Dr. Thomas Schönauer: "Unfortunately, the diverse tasks of our team of around 70 people are far too little known to the general public, although we accompany the population throughout their lives, from school enrolment examinations to school projects, advice and testing services for adults, monitoring hygiene, for example in clinics and other facilities, clean drinking water and ultimately checking death certificates for professional accuracy. When you consider that, despite the impressive achievements of modern curative medicine, a large part of the increase in life expectancy is due to significantly better living conditions, you can see how important this part of municipal services of general interest is, for which the health authorities are responsible.
Services offered by the health department:
Travel medicine advice during opening hours
HIV/STI consultation hours (advice, blood sampling for HIV antibody tests and tests for other sexually transmitted infections), Thursdays from 3 p.m. (by appointment only)
Instruction for people in the food sector, Mondays at 2 pm, Tuesdays at 9 am
The health department can be reached by telephone on 07141 144 2020.
