IANPHI
 |
International Association of
National Public
|
Please visit www.ianphi.org
Improving the world’s health through national public health institutes
Global health challenges, including emerging infectious diseases such as SARS, behavioral risk factors such as tobacco, chronic disease and injury prevention and control and environmental health, are increasingly a threat to all nations, at all stages of economic development. Dealing with these threats requires considerable technical capabilities and first-hand experience. Many nations have found the critical mass of skills and knowledge that can be developed in a national public health institute (NPHI) to be critically important in dealing with such health problems on a population and community basis.
Sharing knowledge and information, training and technical assistance between NPHIs is mutually beneficial and makes good sense in a world where all nations are neighbors when threats to population health are involved. Nearly 30 directors of NPHIs representing all continents and countries at different stages of socioeconomic development met in 2002 in Bellagio, Italy, and again in 2004 in Helsinki, Finland, with these goals in mind and planned an ongoing relationship which will address common public health concerns and welcomes sister NPHI participation from all nations.
The Bellagio meeting was the first time that NPHIs of the world came together to share common experiences, discuss opportunities for collaboration, and to form a network of such public health institutions. In summer 2004, the group reconvened and declared the intent to establish an International Association of National Institutes of Public Health (IANIPH) with a Secretariat located at KTL in Helsinki, Finland.
Roles for this organization are being developed but will include mechanisms for swift and clear communication between the members, joint training activities, collaborative research projects and inter-institute assistance on a wide variety of public health issues, such as surveillance and outbreak investigation. In an increasingly globalized world, the international collaboration of NPHIs is vital for success in any country and for global public health. The shared vision of the NPHI participants now will be operationalized into an association that facilitates partnership and collaboration. Our vision is that this collaboration will improve public health globally and thus be a legacy for future generations of public health professionals.
The Helsinki statement
The participants of the 2nd Meeting of the National Public Health Institutes in Helsinki, Finland on July 21-23, 2004, resolved to create the International Association of National Institutes of Public Health. The participants agreed that such a global collaboration of national public health institutes would enhance the individual institutes in their important work, assist countries to develop and establish new institutes and the association would greatly improve global public health. The participants agreed to establish an executive board to develop the charter of an association and define its roles and responsibilities by the next meeting.
For more information, please go to www.ianphi.org