A Look Back

Uncertain, risky and short.   That's how life was before the development of public health.  Poor sanitation and environmental conditions, unregulated food processing, lack of control of mosquitoes, inadequate prenatal care, and other poor health conditions led to unnecessary illnesses, communicable diseases, and deaths. 

History reveals that in the early 1940’s in Harris County, a Sanitarian worked with and under the direction of a part-time public health physician.  The primary tasks of the Sanitarian were to answer complaints regarding unsanitary conditions throughout the county and post quarantine notices on dwellings where residents were diagnosed as having a communicable disease.  This initiated the services that have grown and developed into the agency that is known today as Harris County Public Health & Environmental Services (HCPHES). 

Controlling infectious diseases and unsanitary health conditions were major reasons for the establishment of public health services and, as a result, changed people’s lives dramatically.  For example, in the 1940’s, life expectancy was only 64 years, up from 49 years in 1900.  And now in 2007, life expectancy is at a record high 77.9 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  

Through the decades since its establishment, the county health department faced many challenges.  For instance, polio was declared an epidemic in Texas in 1943.  Through the 1940’s and in the early 1950’s great efforts were made to reduce the spread of polio through the use of better sanitation techniques and the development of the polio vaccine.

The results of a survey conducted in 1960 by Harris County’s public health department found an alarming number of people still were not vaccinated against polio.  The county health department implemented a massive immunization campaign in cooperation with the City of Houston Health Department and vaccinated over 100,000 people in a two-week period.  As a result of this public health effort, polio is no longer a threat to Harris County residents.

Throughout the years, HCPHES has responded to public health issues such as rabies, mosquito-borne illnesses, air and water pollution, disease outbreaks, water and food-borne illnesses, natural disasters, tuberculosis, polio, and other communicable diseases.  

Public health is now battling new challenges.  Each year brings new diseases, new chronic disease risks, and more natural and man-made disasters.  Every new threat has been matched by a public health response.  Public health forces must work together to fight each new threat or new epidemics will spread.

Rather than resting on its past achievements, Public Health is forward thinking, always looking ahead to shape its goals and activities to improve the health, safety and quality of life of all county residents.

Harris County is now the third most populous county in the United States, with an estimated 3.94 million residents in 2007.  The population is growing rapidly each year and public health continues to prepare for any potential threat and disease outbreak to respond effectively to public health events.