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public health

(Encyclopedia)public health, field of medicine and hygiene dealing with the prevention of disease and the promotion of health by government agencies. In the United States, public health authorities are engaged in m...

health insurance

(Encyclopedia)health insurance, prepayment plan providing services or cash indemnities for medical care needed in times of illness or disability. It is effected by voluntary plans, either commercial or nonprofit, o...

utility, public

(Encyclopedia)utility, public, industry required by law to render adequate service in its field at reasonable prices to all who apply for it. Public utilities frequently operate as monopolies in their market. In th...

Pan-American Health Organization

(Encyclopedia)Pan-American Health Organization, inter-American health organization. It was established in 1902 as the International Sanitary Bureau; the present name was adopted in 1958. Its members include all the...

National Institutes of Health

(Encyclopedia)National Institutes of Health (NIH), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service, with headquarters in Bethesda, Md. It was established initially in 1887 as a laboratory in the U.S. Marine Hospital on St...

debt, public

(Encyclopedia)debt, public, indebtedness of a central government expressed in money terms, often referred to as national debt. The debt is computed differently by nearly every nation. Some authorities exclude all g...

public broadcasting

(Encyclopedia)public broadcasting: see broadcasting. ...

public defender

(Encyclopedia)public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person c...

public domain

(Encyclopedia)public domain, in law, legal availability for public use, free of charge, of materials, processes, devices, skills, and plans that are not protected by copyright or patent, including those on which co...

public land

(Encyclopedia)public land, in U.S. history, land owned by the federal government but not reserved for any special purpose, e.g., for a park or a military reservation. Public land is also called land in the public d...