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WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
COLLABORATING CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE
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Strategic Plan
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This page sets out a strategic plan for World Health Collaborating Center for Public
Health Practice. It reviews strengths and opportunities; presents a
series of statements relating to the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Public
Health Practice's vision, mission, values and objectives; and sets out its proposed strategies
and goals.
Background
From as far back as 1996, there has been collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) on the role of Essential Public Health Functions/Services in the
improvement of public health practice. From this collaboration the concept emerged to establish a
WHO Collaborating Center with a focus on health systems research and development. The
collaboration has been further strengthened by continuing partnership between the Division of
Public Health Systems Development and Research (DPHSDR) in the Public Health Practice Program
Office (PHPPO) at the CDC, the Division of Health Systems and Service Development (HSP) at
PAHO, and the cluster for Evidence and Information for Policy (EIP) at WHO. Site visits
occurred between the three organizations by Dr. Paul Halverson, Director of the National Public
Health Performance Standards Program (NPHPSP). The Center was designated at PHPPO in
December 2001 as a WHO Collaborating Center for Public Health Practice.
Eleven centers, institute and offices (CIOs) make up the CDC. As one of the 11 centers, PHPPO has
as its overarching purpose to help strengthen the capacity of the CDC and all public health. PHPPO
works in support of the vision, mission, and priorities of the CDC -- "The Nation's Prevention
Agency" -- which is the federal health agency that spearheads research, policy development, and
programs aimed at improving the health of all Americans through prevention. Beyond its domestic
activities, the CDC plays a large and growing role internationally, as reflected in the agency's
vision statement: "Healthy People in a Healthy World - Through Prevention", helping practitioners
to apply these priorities to prevention and health promotion at a global level.
Strengths and Opportunities of the WHO Collaborating Center for Public Health Practice
This strategic plan addresses the following key strengths and opportunities for the WHO
Collaborating Center for Public Health Practice.
Strengths
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- Expertise in Capacity Building for Public Health Systems
- Access to broadbase expertise available in PHPPO
- Link to the Sustainable Management Development Program (SMDP) at PHPPO
to promote development of management capacity globally
- Current project with PAHO, extending the concept of performance
measurement for public health practice throughout the Americas
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Opportunities
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- Strengthening public health services globally by developing human resources,
improving the organizational effectiveness of health agencies at both national
and sub national levels and providing management and leadership training in
public health services
- Conducting research in public health practice based on national priorities and
enhances the CDC's ability to communicate health information at a global level
through WHO
- Conducting research and training at a global level in public health
practice
- Providing consultation and training to assist public health agencies in other
countries in fulfilling their role to ensure the health of the public
- Assisting in transferring the experience and expertise obtained from the
above research, nationally and internationally by organizing workshops, expert
panels and advisory groups
- Providing access to publications through a regional information network
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Vision
The Collaborating Center will provide leadership in the area of public health practice,
sharing best practices and disseminating evidence to enhance public health systems on a
global level. Through collaborative activities, the center will play a large and growing
role internationally as reflected in the CDC's vision statement: "Healthy People in a
Healthy World-Through Prevention." It will help countries to enhance their public health
infrastructure, enabling better surveillance and use of scientific evidence in healthcare
decision-making.
Mission Statement
The Collaborating Center will strengthen public health systems globally by developing
human resources, improving the organizational effectiveness of health agencies at
both national and sub national levels and providing help in management and leadership
training in public health systems and research.
Corporate Values
The corporate values governing World Health Collaborating Center for Public Health
Practice's development include the following:
- Use of science-based data for decision making
- Continuous quality improvement as part of the organizational culture
Key Strategies
The World Health Collaborating Center for Public Health Practice will pursue the
following critical strategies:
- Establish contact with other WHO Collaborating Centers
- Develop an information package describing the work and focus of the Center at
PHPPO and mass mail the package to other Collaborating Centers, WHO Regional
Offices, and CIOs at CDC.
- Collaborate with other CIOs at the CDC, international donor agencies and health
ministries in other countries to share expertise available at PHPPO that can enhance
and improve systems and infrastructure involved in delivery and practice of public
health.
- Actively seek out opportunities for collaborative ventures (operating within the
framework of existing CDC regulations) with other institutions and agencies involved
in international development.
- Design an interactive Web page for the Collaborating Center and link it to the
PHPPO site.
Major Goals
The following key targets will be achieved by the WHO Collaborating Center for
Public Health Practice over the next 3-4 years:
- Collaborate closely with the Public Health Workforce Development initiatives and
Leadership Development programs at the CDC, PAHO and WHO HQ. These initiatives
also seek to improve the management and leadership structure of various schools of
public health globally.
- Collaborate with other agencies involved in international development to engage in
research projects that assess national capacities of public health systems.
- Provide the necessary technical assistance to help more closely align health systems
with national priorities as well as share global level information on current best
practices in the area of public health.
- Provide a link between various member states to facilitate the global exchange of
information on training opportunities which exist and which can strengthen the public
health workforce capacity of these states.
- Disseminate through the WHO the vast body of expertise gained in the United
States to facilitate and accelerate improving the performance and capacity of the
public health system by monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of public health
organizations and workers.
- Convene joint workshops involving high level expertise and advisory groups
knowledgeable in the areas of public health systems, essential public health functions,
health care delivery, health care systems, health sector reform, performance
standards and performance measurement.
- Utilize existing CDC resources to disseminate and facilitate access to
publications at a regional level, particularly through existing Inter and Intranet
networks.
- Promote partnerships between regional organizations involved in distance
education to help achieve the above activities on a regional basis.
- Conduct studies and analyze policies related to international technical cooperation
for health system development. This research in public health practice will be based on
national priorities and enhance the CDCs ability to communicate health information at
a global level through the World Health Organization and other collaborating centers.
- Provide technical assistance to help public health agencies in other countries fulfill
their role in ensuring the health of the public. Facilitating the transfer of experience
and expertise both nationally and internationally, through a network involving the use
of distance education, will lead to a strengthening of public health systems in other
countries and minimize the risk of harmful diseases entering the United States.
Conclusion
The WHO Collaborating Center at PHPPO will serve as a center of excellence for public
health practice that will share expertise in systems development and research,
laboratory sciences and public health practice, both nationally and internationally.
The Center will help other countries improve their public health infrastructure to monitor
health, detect and investigate health problems, conduct research to enhance prevention,
develop and advocate sound public health policies, implement prevention strategies,
promote healthy behaviors, foster safe and healthful environments, and provide
leadership and training. Enhancing the capacity of public health infrastructure in other
countries to deliver population-based activities of consistently high quality will do much
to ensure a high level of public health practice globally.
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This page last reviewed: August 17, 2004
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