School Of Public Health

The School of Public Health was founded in 1993 to support the establishment of a district health system in a new democratic South Africa.

Its vision is the optimal and comprehensive health and well-being of populations in developing countries, particularly Africa, living in healthy and sustainable environments with access to and participation in appropriate, high quality, comprehensive and equitable basic services, including health services and systems, rooted in human rights and social justice.

The purpose of the School is to support and train policy  makers and implementers who are knowledgeable and skilled in the principles and practice of public health, whose practice is based on research, influenced by informed and active communities, and  implemented  with a commitment to equity, social justice and human dignity.

What we offer:

  • We offer doctoral, masters and post-graduate diploma programmes in Public Health, which are accessible part-time and full-time, are offered online, and host students, most of them working health professionals, from the entire African continent and the Global South.
  • We provide continuing professional development opportunities for health and welfare practitioners. Our Winter School short course programme, presented face-to-face between 1992 and 2018, had a global reach, training more that 12,000 practitioners. We are now in the process of creating a new platform to offer CPD activities online from mid-2021.
  • We host two SARChi chairs in Health Systems, Complexity and Social Change; and Health Systems Governance.
  • We have been a WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Human Resource for Health Development since 2004.