Advancing Global Health in Academic Public Health
Preparing academic public health to lead in an increasingly interconnected, complex, and rapidly changing world
Global health cooperation is more essential than ever. Public health institutions are navigating increasing geopolitical fragmentation, shifts in global health financing, climate-related health threats, migration and displacement, emerging technologies, misinformation, and persistent inequities in whose knowledge, priorities, and leadership shape global action. At the same time, these challenges demonstrate that the distinction between “global” and “local” health is no longer meaningful: transnational forces affect communities everywhere, while local knowledge, data, leadership, and implementation are essential to effective global responses.
Advancing Global Health in Academic Public Health, developed through the ASPPH Global Engagement and Partnerships Advisory Committee, examines what this changing landscape means for schools and programs of public health and for the students they prepare to lead.
About the Report
Developed by a subgroup of the ASPPH Global Engagement and Partnerships Advisory Committee, with input from international members and other ASPPH advisory groups, this report offers practical recommendations for navigating an evolving global health landscape. These recommendations are intended as a shared foundation for action, not a prescriptive or one-size-fits-all model, for schools and programs to adapt based on their unique capacities, priorities, and communities.
Emphasizing a “glocal” perspective that global health is local health, the report highlights the interconnected nature of global challenges and their impacts on local communities. It underscores the role of academic public health in preparing graduates to navigate these connections, translating global evidence into locally relevant action and elevating local knowledge into broader policy and practice.
A Shared Vision for Global Academic Public Health
The report is grounded in several core principles:
Global health is local health.
Local action strengthens global capacity, while global cooperation strengthens local resilience.
Inclusive and equitable governance must be explicit.
This should include attention to power, resources, representation, and whose knowledge is valued.
Global health education should be co-created and reciprocal.
We must recognize institutions and communities across regions as sources of expertise and leadership.
Collaboration must evolve.
This must include new forms of partnership, new actors, and new tools.
Workforce preparation must align with modern public health realities.
This should include systems thinking, technology, diplomacy, implementation, advocacy, and adaptive leadership.
Public health must balance realism with possibility.
We must acknowledge current challenges while identifying opportunities for meaningful action.
What Can Schools and Programs Do?
The report identifies 13 areas for institutional action, offering a framework schools and programs can adapt to their own missions and contexts.
At a Glance
Strengthen Global Health Education
Connect Learning to Practice
Build Reciprocal Partnerships
Advanced Digital Fluency and Ethical Research
Prepare Future Public Health Leaders
Measure Impact and Accountability
From Report to Engagement
Publication of the report represents a starting point rather than an endpoint. ASPPH will continue working with members, students, global partners, and the broader public health community to explore how these ideas can be applied in practice and adapted across different institutional and regional contexts.