The School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong is committed to meliorism — the belief that scientifically guided collective action makes communities healthy and prosperous. Faculty, staff, and students are drawn here in that belief, and they put ideas for human betterment into action every day. Schools gather scholars whose time together changes the scholars, the school, and the community for the better. Success in public health is based on the power of the simple pronoun: “we”.

Healthy communities are the work of whole populations supporting policies and behaviours on behalf of a group that includes each in solidarity with all. Public health specialists can convert data and knowledge into human thriving by tuning in to local strengths and fostering mutual trust. What the world needs most right now is people who use facts to guide our efforts to create societies where all, especially the most vulnerable, can thrive. Public health is science in a value-rich environment. The School of Public Health of the University of Hong Kong is a home for the discipline of relying on science and respecting values.

Public health asks us to gather fellow scholars, community leaders, and citizens into groups that can identify health threats, co-design effective actions to improve health for all, and implement these actions. Our field calls on the mind for science and on the heart for community-building. We come to schools of public health to develop both knowledge and praxis. Our School is located at a global crossroads for the best ideas in public health. Our cosmopolitan faculty and students link us to communities of scholarly practice around the world.

The work of our School spans the frontiers of molecular biology, psychology, omics, social sciences, and more. The links to practice affect communities in our own metropolis, East Asia, and around the globe. Most importantly we practice public health on our own campus by mindfully asking how we can create and further the well-being of our scholarly community. Our members create the power of “we” by using data on our own ability to thrive as scholars and students to co-create better ways to work together. We care about ensuring that nobody in our School is left behind. 

Please get to know us further. Study with us. Collaborate with us. Read and engage with our ideas. We welcome you.

Professor David Makram Bishai
Director, School of Public Health