Global Public Health

What are the effects of a healthy individual on the world around them?
Beyond the hereditary connections between parents and children or the implications of communicable diseases, public health has intrinsic value as a basic human right. Furthermore, health and the three pillars of sustainable development i.e. economic, social and environmental well-being, are intrinsically connected.

Global Public Health, is a course taught by experts from the Public Health Foundation of India. It explores the institutions, infrastructure, and the interplay of actors that constitute health not only in local communities but also on a global scale. In this course, you’ll discover how health is influenced by the environment, food systems, energy security, transport, trade, and human migration.

You’ll also learn health’s positive influence on other sectors, with investments in health shown to have a positive impact on economic development. Finally, this course will illuminate how health impacts and is essential to achieving poverty reduction, gender empowerment, universal education, conflict resolution, and other Sustainable Development Goals.

This course is for:

• Graduate students and advanced undergraduate students studying public health, international development, public policy, nursing and medicine and other fields who are interested in the key concepts and practices in global public health
• Healthcare professionals and other practitioners who want to understand their work within the broader context of international policy and the concept of sustainable development
• Sustainable development practitioners who want to understand the lifecycle of needs and support necessary to improve health globally, including those who work for international aid organizations and nonprofits in the realms of healthcare, poverty, and nutrition

1: Introduction to Public Health

1.1 Introduction & History of Public Health
1.2 Multiple Determinants of Health
1.3 Evolution of Global Public Health
1.4 Measuring Health Status

2: Trends in Public Health

2.1 Demographic and Epidemiological Transitions
2.2 Economics to Equity in Health
2.3 Globalization and Its Impact on Public Health

3: Infectious Diseases

3.1 The Changing Patterns of Infectious Diseases in Time and Place
3.2 Control, Elimination, Eradication, Extinction
3.3 Zoonoses
3.4 New and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases
3.5 Childhood Diseases with a Focus on Diarrhea and Pneumonia

4: Maternal and Child Health

4.1 Child Health
4.2 Maternal Health
4.3 The Sexual and Reproductive Health Agenda
4.4 The Long Shadow of Childhood Undernutrition

5: Non-Communicable Diseases – Part I

5.1 Introduction to NCDs
5.2 Impact of Tobacco Abuse
5.3 Diet and Physical Activity-I
5.4 Diet and Physical Activity-II
5.5 Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes Mellitus

6: Non-Communicable Diseases – Part II

6.1 Cardiovascular Disease
6.2 Cancers
6.3 Respiratory Illnesses
6.4 Mental Health
6.5 Injuries (Road Traffic Accidents and Alcohol)

7: Health Systems – Part I

7.1 Introduction to Health Systems
7.2 Delivering Health Services
7.3 Health Systems Financing
7.4 The Political Economy of Health Systems and Universal Health Coverage

8: Health Systems – Part II

8.1 Access to Medicines - I
8.2 Access to Medicines - II
8.3 Working Towards Health for All
8.4 Governance Mechanisms

9: Environment and Health

9.1 Climate Change and Health
9.2 Disasters

10: Public Health in the 21st Century

10.1 The Threat of Antibiotic Resistance
10.2 The Challenge of Ageing Populations
10.3 Health and Sustainable Development - I
10.4 Health and Sustainable Development - II
10.5 The Future of Public Health