Department of Health

Mission Statement: To protect and improve the health and well-being of all Arkansans. Vision Statement Optimal health for all Arkansans to achieve maximum personal, economic and social impact. What is public health? One definition - from a 1988 report by the Institute of Medicine's "The Future of Public Health" - is this: "Public health is the science and the art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and organizing community efforts to do the following: keep the environment clean, control communicable infections, educate individuals in personal hygiene (like handwashing for example), organize medical and nursing services for the early diagnosis and treatment of disease, and develop the social machinery to ensure everyone a healthy standard of living."