Community Health and Public Health Awareness
Scope
This domain tests whether you can explain health to a community, apply the levels of prevention, use basic epidemiology words correctly, and name the national programmes a village-level worker is expected to support. Answers must be local and practical, not definitions alone.
Core rules
- WHO (1948): health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease.
- Levels of prevention: primary - immunisation, safe water, health education; secondary - screening and early treatment; tertiary - rehabilitation and limitation of disability.
- Incidence = new cases in a period ÷ population at risk × 1000. Prevalence = all existing cases ÷ total population × 1000. Endemic, epidemic and pandemic describe spread, not severity.
- India's UIP schedule: BCG, OPV-0 and hepatitis B birth dose at birth; pentavalent, OPV, fIPV, rotavirus and PCV at 6, 10 and 14 weeks; MR and JE at 9–12 months; boosters at 16–24 months and DPT at 5–6 years. Cold chain: ILR at 2–8 °C for vaccines, deep freezer for OPV.
- Diarrhoea: ORS plus 14 days of zinc; continue breastfeeding and feeding.
- Programme names to keep straight: NHM, NTEP (TB, with DOTS), NACP (HIV/AIDS), NPCDCS (non-communicable diseases), ICDS/Anganwadi, ASHA as the village link worker, Swachh Bharat Mission for sanitation.
Worked example
A village of 4000 people reports 40 new diarrhoea cases in a week. Reasoning: incidence = 40 ÷ 4000 × 1000 = 10 per 1000 per week. If 60 old cases still exist, prevalence = 100 ÷ 4000 × 1000 = 25 per 1000 at that point. Primary prevention actions: chlorinate or boil water, safe disposal of faeces, handwashing with soap, exclusive breastfeeding and ORS availability - not merely treating the sick.
Traps that cost marks
Swapping incidence and prevalence; saying ORS stops diarrhoea (it prevents dehydration, while zinc shortens the episode); telling a mother to stop feeding during diarrhoea; mixing up NTEP and NACP.