Community leaders in most cities want to improve the health of the individuals living in a particular region. Today, cities are responsible for many of the everyday benefits that citizens take for granted. Without a variety of amenities, the individuals living in a city wouldn’t have safe utilities or drinking water. Here are some ways that cities can protect and improve the health of its citizens.
Removal of Dangerous Animals
A city must have an animal control agency to reduce the chances of its citizens contracting an illness or receiving an injury from an animal. The types of animal control vary in each region such as requiring alligator removal in Florida or grizzly bear removal in Alaska. In most cities, problem animals include rodents such as mice and rats or invasive wildlife such as snakes and bats. Animal control agencies are also concerned about the welfare of farm animals and pets, leading to regulations to prevent cruelty to animals. The way a community treats their animals is a good way to measure the mental health of the area. This is because if people are feeling mentally stable and happy, they are less likely to act out and be cruel to each other and their pets or strays that they come across.
Trash Collection
While a city may not hire the employees who pick up trash, it does make contracts with trash collection companies. Without this vital service, garbage would pile up in a city’s streets, leading to additional problems from foul odors that attract insects and rodents. This is turn would lead to more bacteria and viruses being harbored within the city, and thus, more people would be more likely to get sick as a result. This sort of problem would manifest itself very quickly if such a thing were to happen. A city will charge a trash collection fees for its citizens, and it may also stipulate how the trash is prepared for the trash collectors. With the emphasis on recycling, modern trash collection includes cleaning and sorting trash so that it is ready to transport with a trash collection company.
Sanitize Wastewater
The news is filled with reports about contaminated drinking water or wastewater, and community leaders don’t want to have citizens who are ill from ingesting dangerous chemicals and pathogens. The installation of a high-quality filtering machine at local wastewater plants is recommended so that pollutants are removed from the water. With this sanitation method, filthy wastewater won’t reach the drinking water in a geographic zone, and in addition, the wastewater won’t contaminate the groundwater in a city. This is a crucial step when providing clean, safe water to any city. Other things, like environmental and man-made pollutants, should also be heeded and kept out of groundwater. Albeit, there is always more man-made pollutants than naturally-occurring ones basically anywhere you go.
Control Communicable Diseases
Communities also have health departments that are dedicated to controlling communicable diseases, including influenza, childhood illnesses, and sexually transmitted diseases. Health departments may offer free or low-cost immunizations for contagious diseases in addition to providing education to its citizens to prevent the spread of illnesses. Many healthcare clinics also offer things like STD education and condoms at no charge to help mitigate the spread of disease throughout the populace. Other things like regularly administered inoculations for the flu can help prevent sickness from cropping up, especially during the winter months when it is most rampant. Simple steps like these can help manage and monitor the health of communities across the nation and subsequently, across the world.
Get Involved in Community Health Services
The citizens of a city are welcome to become involved in community health services by offering ideas at city council meetings or volunteering with certain agencies within the city. It is also a good idea for a city’s citizens to vote in local elections to ensure that the best individuals are in charge of a region’s community health services. That way, the power stays within the people’s hands, where it belongs. It allows the people to have a say in their community’s health and the way it runs, which is incredibly important. Especially today in our world, since it is more polluted than ever, and US government agencies are turning a blind eye to it out of laziness and greed. We need to make sure our world is taken care of, otherwise, we have nowhere to live.
In closing, there are many different ways to sustain a healthy community in the world today, despite our current circumstances of global warming and major pollution concerns. Take the time to do some research about your local city and see what you can do to help. It all comes down to the individual, and we all have a responsibility to upkeep and maintain our world.