The HSPH China Initiative is dedicated to contributing expertise in education, research, and policy to help advance health and social development in China during a time of profound social and economic transformation.  Through education, we will train a new generation of innovative public health leaders.  Through research, we seek to foster new discoveries leading to improved health for the Chinese people and people of all nations.  Through policy dialogue programs, we aim to inform policy debate, disseminate health information, and increase awareness of public health as a public good and fundamental human right. 

Dear Friends,

Exciting developments and great challenges face China as it embarks into the 21^st century.  The past three decades have been indicative of China's great potential and progress with regards to its rapid economic development.  With increasing income, people enjoy better nutrition, safer drinking water, better housing conditions, and better healthcare.  Yet China still confronts new challenges, from communicable diseases such as SARS, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis to workplace safety. Moreover, without a health safety-net or health insurance, millions of individuals risk impoverishment if they develop serious illness.

As a global leader in knowledge creation and transfer, the Harvard School of Public Health has the capacity to help China effectively address these major issues in health sector development through research and education.  Building upon the Harvard School of Public Health's long-standing global health mission, the HSPH China Initiative was established in 2005, as a 5-year program in collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Health and Tsinghua University. 

We are honored to have had the HSPH China Initiative grow under the visionary leadership of Dean Barry R. Bloom and the great support of Dean James Ware.  We have made great strides towards meeting our goals, as exemplified by the successful 2007 Inaugural China Social Development Forum in Beijing and the 2007 China Senior Health Executive Education Program. 

The HSPH China Initiative is also fortunate to be able to build upon the strong foundation already laid out by many dedicated faculty, staff, students, and alumni, especially Professor William Hsiao and Professor David Christiani and their more than twenty-five years of ground-breaking work in China. 

Moving forward, my colleagues and I at the HSPH China Initiative welcome suggestions, advice, contributions, and support from faculty, students, staff, alumni, members of the public and private sectors in Boston, in America, in China, and elsewhere as we continue to strive towards our goal of improved health for the Chinese people and people of all nations. 

All the best,

Yuanli Liu, PhD

Director of the HSPH China Initiative
Senior Lecturer on International Health
Department of Population and International Health
Harvard School of Public Health

665 Huntington Avenue
SPH 1-1108B
Boston, MA 02115
(617) 432-4623
yuanliu@hsph.harvard.edu

Photos courtesy of Suzanne Camarata/HSPH.