Children First

General information

The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is the lead agency entrusted by the people of the State of Georgia with the ultimate responsibility for the health of communities and the entire population. First created as the State Board of Health in 1875, Public Health became its own department in 1931 until it was consolidated within the Department of Human Resources by then-Governor Jimmy Carter in 1972. More than 30 years later, Public Health was moved under the Department of Community Health. In 2011, the General Assembly restored DPH to its own state agency. At the state level, DPH is divided into numerous divisions, sections, programs and offices, and at the local level, DPH functions via 18 health districts and 159 county health departments. Through the changes, the mission has remained constant – to protect the lives of all Georgians. Today, DPH’s main functions include: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Maternal and Child Health, Infectious Disease and Immunization, Environmental Health, Epidemiology, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Emergency Medical Services, Pharmacy, Nursing, Volunteer Health Care, the Office of Health Equity, Vital Records and the State Public Health Laboratory. For more information on DPH, visit http://health.state.ga.us/.