Public Health Foundation of India set up seven institutes to address India's public health needs through educational and research initiatives.

Hyderabad 7 April, 2007 - A galaxy of dignitaries, led by Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy (Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh), Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss (Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare) and Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia (Deputy Chairman - Planning Commission) today laid the foundation stone of the proposed Institute of Public Health at Hyderabad.

IIPH Hyderabad, which is the first IIPH to commence construction, is expected to begin functioning from July 2008. The occasion also marked the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), for the establishment and governance of this institute.

MOUs have also been signed by PHFI with the Governments of Punjab and Gujarat. The seven IIPHs are proposed to be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. While each of these would have an all India character for training of public health professionals (through MPH, DPH and PhD programmes), they would also serve as regional resource centers for training of health service personnel, health system managers and public health researchers.

The IIPH at Hyderabad is being established by PHFI in partnership with Government of Andhra Pradesh. Situated in Rajinder Nagar and spread over 45 acres of land, the Institute is will be a fully residential campus for students and faculty. This institute is being built with an investment of over Rs. 120 crores.

It will train 150 public health professionals (through long-term courses) and up to 800 public health functionaries (through short-term courses) each year. Apart from strengthening the health services of Andhra Pradesh, the IIPH will help to build capacity in public health policy development, programme design, delivery and evaluation as well as develop health system management. National programmes like National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) as well as state and regional level health initiatives would also be assisted by the IIPH.

The Institute aims to make public health education and research activities relevant to India in content and context, while attaining international standards. It will ensure that public health education is multi disciplinary, drawing upon several subjects like epidemiology, biostatistics, life sciences, demography, health economics, social and behavioral sciences, environmental health and management.

Programmes are intended to attract a diverse student body, with students from varied backgrounds including medicine, dentistry, nursing, biological sciences, nutrition, biotechnology, social sciences, economics and management. Special programmes will also be developed to enhance expertise in the areas of public health engineering and public health law.

Dr. A. Ramadoss, Hon'ble Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, pointed out that the theme of World Health Day 2007 is 'Investing for Health Security'. He said that investing in health is essential for development as well as for national security, which can be threatened by epidemics of new and old diseases as well as the economic losses suffered from high disease burden. He emphasized that health is an essential need for India's accelerated development. He pointed out that public health expertise was grossly deficient in India and hoped that the IIPHs, established by PHFI would quickly infuse the required expertise into the health system.

Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia drew attention to the rapid economic strides that India is making. He emphasized that protection and promotion of people's health is critical for keeping up and even increasing the pace of our economic growth, even as socio economic development helps to improve health indices. He pointed out that there were large regional and social disparities in health and called upon PHFI to dedicate its efforts to the recognition and removal of these inequities.

Mr. Rajat Gupta (Senior Partner McKinsey amd Company and Chairman of PHFI's Governing Council) affirmed PHFI's commitment to work closely with multiple stake holders, including central and state governments, to advance the agenda of public health in India. He said that the creation of PHFI addressed a felt need that was long neglected but is now very opportune, since the government is highly committed to social sector programmes in education and health alongside economic development.

Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, President, PHFI said that health is both a developmental imperative and inviolable human right. The programmes of education and research that the IIPH at Hyderabad would conduct will be geared to India's needs. The IIPHs will also benefit from strong academic partnerships that PHFI has established with leading public health institutions in UK, USA, Europe, Australia and several developing countries.

Several leading industrialists of the state are also expected to support this noble cause. Notable among them are Mr. G.V.K. Reddy from the GVK group, Mr. Ramalinga Raju from the Satyam group, Dr. G.V. Prasad from Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and Mr N Prasad of Matrix who have pledged their commitment and financial support for the IIPH- Hyderabad.