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This page in Spanish
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
COLLABORATING CENTER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE

Strategic Plan

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
  • 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
Opportunities
  • 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


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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