Abstract
Public health education in China and India has a long history that has been both deeply responsive to the unique needs and medical traditions of each country, and sensitive to global influences. The history of public health education in China reaches back several centuries, with substantial input from American and European organizations during the Republican Era, 1911–1949. In India, centuries-old health care traditions were influenced during the colonial period by the British Empire prior to independence in 1947. Political upheaval in both countries during the 1940s further impacted the public health systems as well as public health education.The primary goal of this review is to outline public health education in India and Mainland China, with a focus on describing the historical systems and structures that have promoted the development of formalized public health education. We examine current challenges, and analyze opportunities for improvement. Health reforms in China and India need to consider new and modern models for public health education, perhaps in independent faculties of public health, to reinvigorate public health education and strengthen the position of public health in addressing the health challenges of the 21st century.
Highlights
This issue of Public Health Reviews on the theme of “Education in Public Health” aims to provide a broad scope analysis of the history, current status and challenges for future development of educational and accreditation systems for the public health workforce needed in the coming decades
The primary goal of this review is to outline public health education in India and Mainland China, with a focus on describing the historical systems and structures that have promoted the development of formalized public health education
We review the history of public health teaching, current challenges, and potential opportunities for reform and improvement of public health education
Summary
This issue of Public Health Reviews on the theme of “Education in Public Health” aims to provide a broad scope analysis of the history, current status and challenges for future development of educational and accreditation systems for the public health workforce needed in the coming decades. China and India are the most populous countries in the world and are rapidly developing emerging global economic and political powers. Based on the Human Development Index of the World Bank (Table 1), both have been developing rapidly since 1980, with China outpacing India, and currently higher than the global average. An understanding of public health education history and current efforts in these two important countries may shed some light on how public health education can be prioritized in other developing nations. Human Development Index for China and India, compared to the World, from 1980 to 2010 Year China India World 0.455 n.a.
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