Top 5 Priorities on the Global Health Agenda: A Worldwide Survey

Public health covers several fields ranging from maternal/child health to the control of tobacco use and to health policy development. The importance of every single topic may vary from country to country. The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) comprises member associations from all over the world. This allows for a study of PH topics in the global agenda.

The WFPHA investigated which are the items of highest importance among associations of PH worldwide and then sorted them according to the specific WHO region. Among the 5 most important items worldwide, Health Policy Development appeared first with 65% of preferences followed by Public Health Education (58%). Two items -Tobacco Use and Health Service Evaluation – followed both with 52% of preference. In the fifth position, Health Systems Reform appears with 48%. Among the several Health Policies to be developed, Primary Health Care and Public Health Education come out as most important with 45%.

Splitting the results up according to WHO regions there is not much difference with Health Policy Development, Health Service Evaluation, Public Health Education and Tobacco Use ranking first. Of interest, the African region expresses its main interest for Human Resources in Public Health. Following this first inside into priorities of PH associations worldwide, the WFPHA plans to develop activities that foster the main objectives of the public health agenda and to meet its Members' expectations.