The Department of Public Health contributes
to the worldwide development of sustainable effective health care
systems that assure equity, quality, efficiency and participation.
We have adopted an integrated strategy in which teaching, research
and technical assistance mutually interact.
The units of the department embody specific technical
expertise, particularly with respect to teaching. The research of
the department, however, is increasingly managed in task-oriented
groups. These may also involve members of other ITM departments.
Research, field work and policy development cannot be
separated from our teaching. Capacity strengthening is an essential
component in all our projects, which by definition involves
national institutes or organisations. Our research priorities are
primarily based on the relevance for health care systems in
developing countries, the objectives and values contained in our
mission statement, and the pursuit of added value or innovation in
international health policies. Our research portfolio is focused on
four partially overlapping lines: accessibility, quality, disease
control and health policies.