Public Health Foundation of India
 Public Health Foundation of India | |
| Motto | Knowledge to Action |
|---|---|
| Type | Autonomous Public- Private Partnership |
| Established | 2006 by Dr.Manmohan Singh |
| Director | Professor K Srinath Reddy |
| Location | , India |
| Website | http://www.phfi.org/ |
The Public Health Foundation of India, also known as the PHFI, is an autonomous foundation located in New Delhi, India[1]. The foundation was created as a special initiative by the prime minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2006 with the aim of enhancing the capacity of public health professionals in the country. As part of this goal, PHFI has established three Indian Institutes of Public Health (IIPH) at Delhi [2], Hyderabad [3] and Gandhinagar [4]. These are three of eight such planned Indian Institutes of Public Health to be functional across the country. These Institutions are currently functional and provide postgraduate diplomas in clinical research, public health management,health economics, data management and epidemiology.
The foundation is supported by the Government of India as well as philanthropic organizations like the Wellcome Trust and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The organization collaborates richly with various public health schools across the world for faculty training and research, including the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, The Harvard School of Public Health, The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health,[ Emory University]] and others.
In 2009, Public Health Foundation of India was awarded a grant of 5 million pounds by the Wellcome Trust for faculty training, fellowship assistance and assistance in research. This is one of the largest and most prestigious grants awarded for capacity building in the developing world.[5]
Research Networks
The Public Health Foundation of India works with several sister organizations like the Center for Control of Chronic Diseases (CCDC), and the South Asia Network for Chronic Diseases (SANCD), which has been set up as a center of excellence in chronic disease research in India following a grant from the Wellcome trust. Dr. Shah Ebrahim of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine directs the SANCD while Dr. D Prabhakaran is the director of CCDC India.
Governance
PHFI is autonomously governed and is managed by a fully independent Governing Board that is represented by diverse constituencies. It includes senior government officials, eminent Indian and international academic and scientific leaders, civil society representatives and corporate leaders, Including Mr Rajat Gupta,Amartya Sen, K Srinath Reddy, Mukesh Ambani and others.
Charter of PHFI
The Charter of the PHFI gives it a mandate to follow these stated goals:
Establishing 5 -7 new institutes of public health over the next 6 years
Assisting the growth of existing public health training institutions and facilitating their evolution into major institutes of public health;
Establishing a strong national research network of public health and allied institutions.
Engaging public health expertise to collectively undertake analytical work for generating policy recommendations related to public health action,
Developing a vigorous advocacy platform to effectively communicate these recommendations to policy makers and other relevant stake holder groups.
Establishing an independent accreditation body for degrees in public health which are awarded by training institutions across India.
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