A branch of the United States public Health Service (USPHS) q.v. In 1980, was reorganized to form six centers: (a) The Center for Prevention Services, (b) The Center for Environmental Health, (c) The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (d) The Center for Health Promotion and Education, (e) The Center for Professional Development and Training, and (f) The Center for Infectious Diseases.
Organization within HEW serving as a focal point for disease control and public health activities. The Center provides facilities and services for the investigation, prevention and control of diseases; supports quarantine and other activities to prevent introduction of communicable diseases from foreign countries; conducts research into the epidemiology, laboratory diagnosis, prevention and treatment of infectious and other controllable diseases at the community level; provides grants for work on venereal disease, immunization against infectious diseases, and disease control programs; and sets standards for laboratories. Activities focus on the improvement of the health care system through emphasis on prevention and investigations, surveillance and control operations, including training of State and local health workers in specific control techniques or methodologies, rather than through direct treatment.