The role of the public health official in communicating public health information.

The prevailing views on the role of public health professionals refer to professionals in the academic world, without taking into account the fact that many public health professionals are government employees. For example, the American Public Health Association states that public health professionals play an active role in communicating public health information to nonscientific audiences, such as the general population or the mass media. We propose that public health officials have an important responsibility to promote the practice of public health. However, they must do so within the bureaucracy. Any actions that public health officials wish to take as advocates of particular public health activities should be carried out independent of their role as government officials.