ABSTRACT
Addressing public health in the current global environment encompasses a number of factors, including looking at improving health for whole populations and communities, the reduction of health inequalities within and between communities, and striving for sustained health environments [1]. In real terms, this means that public health practitioners need to understand the nature of health and disease, and the context in which health is experienced, enabled or hindered. Evidence is, therefore, the cornerstone of public health and it has traditionally been collected through various methods of surveillance, health information systems, administrative records and through research. Public health research is designed based upon either the systematic collection and analysis of primary data or on the analysis of existing secondary data sources.
