University of Queensland - School of Population Health

The School of Population Health's primary objective is to improve the health status of all Australians, particularly those disadvantaged, through the development of population health as discipline practice and social institution. The School will facilitate the activities of multi-disciplinary groups linked to the practice of population health. It should be inclusive and focus on outcomes and external linkages.

The primary focus for public/population health activities within the Faculty of Health Sciences was carried out within the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and the Australian Centre for International, Tropical Health and Nutrition (ACITHN). These groups were successful in attracting nationally and internationally competitive grants and significant contract work, from both Commonwealth and State Health Departments, as well as other funders. Population health research and teaching activities are also found in other parts of the Faculty and there is a growing interest in health promotion and illness prevention activities, particularly with groups such as Human Movements Studies. Despite this, there is no obvious 'flagship´ for population health within the University of Queensland or in particular within the Faculty of Health Sciences. The review of ACITHN in 1998 suggested that a School of International Tropical Health and Nutrition be established, but it was felt by the Executive Dean that this should be extended to be 'a whole of Faculty´ activity. To this end, discussions took place during 2000 on an appropriate way for the Faculty to establish of the School of Population Health by bringing together various groups within the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine and ACITHN. This will provide a focus on population health activities within the Faculty of Health Sciences, and will also provide a particularly strong group for negotiating with funders, as well as providing the Faculty and the University of Queensland with a vehicle to exert significant influence on the health care agenda in Queensland, nationally and internationally. A set of principles were established on which the development of the School of Population Health was to be predicated.

Head: Professor Alan Lopez
University of Queensland - School of Population Health