At the time of its launch in 2006, PHFI had set out a Charter that focused on institutional capacity-building to strengthen education, training, research and policy development in public health across India. Our sustained vision has also been to strengthen India’s public health institutional and systems capability, and to apply knowledge to achieve better health outcomes for all sections of people PHFI has set up five Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPHs) in Gandhinagar, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Bhubaneshwar and Shillong. The IIPHs are envisioned as world class public health institutions capable of responding to public health challenges of the state, region, and the country. Working as an interlinked network, the IIPHs function as vibrant hubs for public health education, training, research and practice with a strong health system connect. The IIPHs are set up in partnership with the respective state governments. These state-level institutions function with active support and guidance from the respective state governments. A fully-empowered, independent Governing Council, with eminent persons from academia, representatives from governments, civil society, philanthropies, and professional organisations, was constituted to provide strategic guidance and oversight to PHFI. Each IIPH also has a similarly constituted Advisory Council in each of the states. The representative nature of such a broad based public-private partnership governs PHFI and the IIPHs. This permits operational autonomy, while allowing benefits of governmental guidance and civil society scrutiny.
