The department shall formulate comprehensive policies for the promotion of public health and the prevention of disease within the State. It shall in addition to other powers and duties vested in it by this act or by any other law:

a. Collect, preserve and tabulate all information required by law in reference to births, marriages, deaths and all vital facts and shall obtain, collect and preserve such information relating to the health of the people of the State and to the prevention of disease as may be useful in the discharge of the functions of the department;

b. Prepare and administer or supervise a State-wide program of health education, prepare and make available to practicing physicians and local boards of health in the State technical information concerning public health, cooperate with the Commissioner of Education in the preparation and distribution of health bulletins among all the public schools of the State for the purpose of educating children in sanitation and hygiene, cooperate with the Commissioner of Education in the preparation of a program of school health services;

c. Administer or supervise a program of public health nursing, prescribe the minimum qualifications of all public health nurses engaged in official public health work, and encourage and aid in coordinating local public health nursing services;

d. Encourage, direct and aid in coordinating local programs concerning control of preventable diseases in accordance with a unified State-wide plan which shall be formulated by the department;

e. Administer or supervise a program of maternal and child health services, encourage and aid in coordinating local programs concerning maternal and infant hygiene, and encourage and aid in coordinating local programs concerning prenatal and post-natal care, and may, when requested by a local board of education, supervise the work of school nurses;

f. Administer or supervise a program of dental health, encourage and aid in coordinating local programs concerning dental health;

g. Establish and maintain adequate serological, bacteriological and chemical laboratories with such expert assistance and such facilities as are necessary for routine examinations and analyses, and for original investigations and research in matters affecting public health;

h. Administer or supervise a program of industrial hygiene, encourage the establishment of medical, dental, environmental engineering and nursing services in all industrial plants in the State, cooperate with the State Department of Labor in formulating rules and regulations concerning industrial sanitary conditions;

i. (Deleted by amendment)

j. Enforce the State food, drug, and cosmetic laws and collaborate in the enforcement of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act;

k. Keep complete and accurate minutes of all hearings held before the commissioner or any member of the department pursuant to the provisions of this act.

All such minutes shall be retained in a permanent record, and shall be available for public inspection at all times during the office hours of the department.

L.1947, c. 177, p. 806, s. 37. Amended by L.1977, c. 224, s. 13, eff. Sept. 17, 1977.