Public Health Mapping in the Arab World

The Arab world is a distinct geographic and cultural entity, with complex demographic characteristics. Arab countries had frequently faced multifaceted health challenges, including gaps and weaknesses in population health status and widening inequalities among and within countries.

Public health is a core element of all countries’ attempts to improve and promote the health and welfare of their citizens. Every country needs an effective, comprehensive and suitably resourced public health infrastructure. To strengthen public health, however, countries must have a clear understanding of what public health infrastructure they should have in place. Although the core areas of public health are generally understood, in many cases it has proved difficult for countries to define these further in a more detailed and systematic way.

If public health is to be at the centre of health improvement then public health operations, capacities and services must be strengthened. This requires a clear definition of the role of public health, together with its working concepts, boundaries and interrelationships. It is also important that essential public health operations are defined and performance measured.

Thus, it is fundamental to go through a process of public health capacity mapping in the Arabic countries to ensure that public health activities are comprehensive and coordinated.