Harvard School of Public Health China Initiative Summary Statement The Harvard School of Public Health - China Initiative is an effort to contribute expertise in research and training to help China during a time of rapid social and economic development. This Initiative builds upon Harvard's longstanding programs in China by:
Vital Needs and New Opportunities: Public Health in China In recent years, China has come to face new and crucial concerns as it strives to protect and promote the health and well-being of its people. Communicable diseases such as SARS, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis have presented serious challenges to China's public health infrastructure. Workplace safety is a growing issue: conservative estimates are that tens of thousands of people are killed in industrial accidents every year. Moreover, without a health safety-net or insurance, millions of individuals risk impoverishment if they develop serious illness. China's leadership recognizes that public health has a major impact on the country's prosperity, well-being, and long-term stability. The Chinese government is committed to establishing and enhancing its connections with the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in a variety of areas, including health policy, population-based research, modeling of diseases, and public health education and training. In particular, the School works with:
The support of senior individuals at these influential institutions provides a tremendous opportunity to build sustainable models of collaboration which can lead to positive long-term impact on public health in China. Helping to Improve China's
Health Infrastructure:
China's Ministry of Health has made a major commitment with HSPH to train its top health officials in an executive training program in Beijing and Boston. The Senior Health Executive Training Program develops participants' comprehensive understanding of major global, national, and regional public health issues, and equips them with an international spectrum of working models of health development and policy practice against which they may judge and weigh local options and environments. Each year, a select number of highly qualified government officials and senior healthcare executives sharpen their problem-solving, analytic, strategic planning, and leadership skills to help them plan, introduce, and sustain major policy and institutional actions. This program is established and administered by HSPH in cooperation with Tsinghua University.
The China Initiative includes an interdisciplinary scholarship and fellowship program to provide advanced training and research opportunities for a select group of scholars and health professionals. Scholarships support individuals at the masters, doctoral, and post-doctoral level who are committed to return to China and apply their new skills in their home country. As part of this effort, a special China Fellows Program will be developed, modeled on the HSPH Takemi Fellows Program, which for over twenty years has brought together mid-career professionals identified by their countries to have potential for outstanding leadership to address the problems of mobilizing, allocating, and maintaining limited resources to improve health.
Building on the extensive expertise of HSPH faculty, the China Initiative helps to address the country's major health and health system challenges by expanding the School's existing China programs and fostering increased collaborations with our Chinese counterparts. Planned research programs include innovative pilot studies on health system reforms in China, patient safety and healthcare quality, health and sustainable economic development, occupational health and safety, and maternal/child health. These research programs are an important means to help China find solutions to major public health problems. Collaborative research efforts also provide valuable opportunities to train China's critical mass of leading scientists in a range of public health fields. Moreover, these and other projects will involve Harvard graduate and undergraduate students in research, and can foster an enduring commitment to engage with China throughout their careers.
The Party School of the Central Committee of the C.C.P. seeks to train its members in key social development concepts and practices as well as broader areas of mutual interest through a series of forums hosted every other year in Beijing or Boston. As participants in the forums are not public health specialists, the training and discussions are presented within a framework of "economic and social development," which incorporate general principals such as the Human Development Index, equity, governance and civil society, and US-China relations. Furthermore, we plan to organize a series of health policy forums in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, State Development and Reforms Commission, State Council Research Office and other agencies. Topics to be addressed include: economic and policy implications of public health; infectious disease surveillance; chronic disease and occupational health; health insurance; community healthcare and tertiary services; patient safety and healthcare quality; reforming pricing and distributional systems of drugs, medical devices and healthcare services; balancing cost control and healthcare quality and innovation. Ensuring Excellence in
the China Initiative: Accountability and Sustainability Leadership of the China
Initiative Moving Forward |
|---|