Public health
"Public health is the science and art of promoting health. It does so based on the understanding that health is a process engaging social, mental, spiritual and physical well being. Public health acts on the knowledge that health is a fundamental resource to the individual, to the community and to society as a whole and must be supported by soundly investing in living conditions that create, maintain and protect health."
Kickbusch, Ilona, Good Planets are hard to find. Copenhagen (WHO EURO, Healthy Cities papers, No 5) 1989, page 13
The key reference point for Ilona Kickbusch’s work has always been the changing nature of public health. She has contributed significantly to the public health debate in a variety of ways – through health promotion, gender issues, global health and health governance – and is increasingly being asked to help outline the challenges that public health faces in the 21st century by international and European organizations, public health agencies and organizations and schools of public health.
In Switzerland she is a senior advisor to the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health and for the Swiss health report, she advises the Swiss Public Health Association, teaches in the Swiss MPH program and was a member of a high level commission which explored the need for new legislation in the field of public health, health promotion and prevention.
At the European level she advised on the new EU health strategy and regularly contributes to the European Health Forum Gastein.
She is also a member of the preparatory committee for the EUPHA 2008 conference in Lisbon.
At the global level she has in 2007 advised the World Federation of Public Health Associations in the development of their new strategy. Kickbusch health consult is a partner of Knowledge Management for Public Health | KM4PH a WHO network.
In April 2004 she was awarded to honor to give the Hugh R. Leavell Lecture at the 10th International Congress on Public Health of the World Federation of Public health Associations. She chose to speak on global health and presented five global health action areas:
- health as a global public good
- health as a key component of global security
- health as a key factor of global governance of interdependence
- health as a responsible business practice and social responsibility
- health as global citizenship
This presentation "The End of Public Health As We Know It: Constructing Public Health in the 21st Century" (*.pdf) can be accessed here. A German version of this presentation (*.doc) has been produced by Gesundheit Berlin eV.
The action areas were adopted by the UK public health association in their Brighton Declaration and were discussed further at a special event on occasion of the Health Inequalities Summit: governing for health a main event of the UK presidency of the European Union 17th ad 18th October 2005.
Ilona Kickbusch has been asked to address the national meetings of the Mexican, Brazilian Canadian, Czech, Dutch, German, Swiss and the UK Public Health Associations as well as addressing the meeting of the European Public Health Association in Graz, Austria in 2005. The Canadian presentation is available on the conference website and as a publication: Kickbusch I. Mapping the future of Public Health: Action on global health (Commentary). Can J Public Health 2006;97(1):6-8 (*.doc)
In July 2007 she was invited to be the commencement speaker at the Mexican National School of Public Health INSP Cuernavaca www.insp.mx.
Public health honours and awards
Ilona Kickbusch has been awarded a range of public health honours and awards
2005: Honorary doctorate, Nordic School of Public Health, Gothenburg, Sweden 2005
2002 Aventis Pasteur International Award awarded by the Canadian Public Health Association,
2000 Special Meritorious Gold Medal Award by the Province of Vienna, Austria for special contributions to the health of the citizens of Vienna.
She is also an honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine, UK and was asked to hold the 1996 Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Lecture, Faculty of Public Health Medicine, U.K.
She has frequently been requested to act in an advisory and evaluative capacities in relation to public health research such as:
- Evaluation du Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire en sante (GRIS) Faculte de Medicine, Universite deMontreal, Canada February 2004
- Priority research strategies for a new public health and health promotion. Presentation on occasion of a special session of the ACHR (Advisory Committee on health research) of the Pan American Health Organization on occasion of PAHOs cenntennial celebrations, June 2002
- Member
of advisory Board to the Swiss Federal Office of Public health on health research
2002
Some key readings:
