UVU to Host First Annual Public Health Week April 4-6
For the first time in the history of Utah Valley University, the College of Health and Public Service is hosting a free Public Health fair during National Public Health Week. The event will begin on Monday, April 4, 2022, and run through Wednesday April 6, 2022. During the three day event, members of Utah Valley University as well as the general public are invited to learn more about the importance of their well being from health demonstrations and distinguished speakers. There will also be a walk-in blood drive hosted by ARUP held in the Health Professions Building on the West Campus (HP 119). This blood drive will take place on Monday April 4th from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
With Public Health being involved in almost every segment of our lives, including safe drinking water, air pollution, food protection, road and traffic safety, health care services including health care administration as well as personal health, there are many reasons to attend this year's inaugural event. To get a better understanding of why people should consider attending, we caught up with UVU Public Health professor Bob Walsh.
Walsh, is currently in his 44th year of practicing, teaching, and administering public health programs. He practiced through the AIDS pandemic, several smaller disease scares, and now COVID claiming that ”unfortunately, this will not be our last pandemic.” Because of this, Walsh states that the most important reason to attend Public Health week at UVU is the, “opportunity for the university to bring together students and others in contact with community and state leaders focusing on the importance of education, prevention, and when this is not possible, treatment.”
As society often thinks about cures and treatment before prevention, Walsh says, “only by bringing the next generation of Public Health professionals together for serious and timely dialog, can we ever hope to improve health.” With “most health dollars in this country being spent on treatment. This week focuses primarily on prevention, so it is much less expensive and more effective.”
The conference will feature local experts in the fields of Teen Smoking Prevention, Health Care Administration, Health Care Law and the Psychology of Health. Walsh says, “Public Health is the umbrella under which so many areas of health operate. Anytime there is an opportunity to bring professional members from such a wide spectrum of backgrounds together to engage in conversation, it is a win for public health.” Not only is it a win for public health, it is also a win for the community.
We invite everyone to attend Utah Valley University’s inaugural free Public Health Week. A full schedule of the events is listed in the link below. For those unable to attend in person, a video livestream will take place on the same website. https://uvu-chps.info/public-health-week