Public Health Service Achievement Medal

The Public Health Service Achievement Medal is a decoration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It is issued to those personnel who display meritorious achievement and excellence in accomplishing the mission of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Activities warranting the award of the Public Health Service Achievement Medal could include advancement of program objectives, sustained above-average dedication to duty over a relatively short period of time, or a single act of distinction to the betterment of the United States of America in the area of public health.

The Public Health Service Achievement Medal is considered a civilian decoration; however, it is occasionally awarded to members of the United States military. In such cases, the Public Health Service Achievement Medal may be worn on active duty uniforms upon application from the service member.

Famous quotes containing the words public, health, service and/or achievement:

    “Since the last one in a graveyard is believed to be the next one fated to die, funerals often end in a mad scramble.”
    —Administration in the State of Texa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    “The filth and noise of the crowded streets soon destroy the elasticity of health which belongs to the country boy.”
    —Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

    “His character as one of the fathers of the English language would alone make his works important, even those which have little poetical merit. He was as simple as Wordsworth in preferring his homely but vigorous Saxon tongue, when it was neglected by the court, and had not yet attained to the dignity of a literature, and rendered a similar service to his country to that which Dante rendered to Italy.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “One should never direct people towards happiness, because happiness too is an idol of the market-place. One should direct them towards mutual affection. A beast gnawing at its prey can be happy too, but only human beings can feel affection for each other, and this is the highest achievement they can aspire to.”
    —Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918)