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Public Health Education in India and China:History, Opportunities, and Challenges

Public Health Reviews volume 33, pages 204–224 (2011)Cite this article

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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 137 Franklin St. Ste. 203, Chapel Hill, NC, Campus Box 8030, USA

    Shrikant I. Bangdiwala PhD & Myron S. Cohen MD

  2. Harvard Asia Center and Harvard Medical School, USA

    Joseph D. Tucker MD, MA

  3. Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India

    Sanjay Zodpey MD, PhD, K. Srinath Reddy MD, DM, MSc (Senior Author for India) & Kavya Sharma PGDHHM

  4. School of Public Health and Primary Care, Chinese University Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Sian M. Griffiths MB BChir, MA, FRCP & Jin-Ling Tang MD, MSc, PhD

  5. Peking Union Medical College and School of Public Health, Peking University, USA

    Li-Ming Li MD, PhD (Senior Author for China)

  6. University of Oklahoma, USA

    Miriam Gross MIA, PhD

Authors
  1. Shrikant I. Bangdiwala PhD
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  2. Joseph D. Tucker MD, MA
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  3. Sanjay Zodpey MD, PhD
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  4. Sian M. Griffiths MB BChir, MA, FRCP
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  5. Li-Ming Li MD, PhD
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  6. K. Srinath Reddy MD, DM, MSc
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  7. Myron S. Cohen MD
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  8. Miriam Gross MIA, PhD
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  9. Kavya Sharma PGDHHM
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  10. Jin-Ling Tang MD, MSc, PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shrikant I. Bangdiwala PhD.

Additional information

Recommended Citation: Bangdiwala SI, Tucker JD, Zodpey SM, Griffiths S, Li L-M, Reddy KS, Cohen MS, Gross M, Sharma K, Tang J-L. Public Health Education in India and China: History, Opportunities, and Challenges. Public Health Reviews. 2011;33:204–24.

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Bangdiwala, S.I., Tucker, J.D., Zodpey, S. et al. Public Health Education in India and China:History, Opportunities, and Challenges. Public Health Rev 33, 204–224 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03391628

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Keywords

Public Health Reviews

ISSN: 2107-6952

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