Professor Ogunseitan on Public Health |
"Public health practice is essentially a global activity cutting across geographical and international boundaries. Discoveries in public health Science and innovative public health policies also cut across age groups, gender, ethnicity, level of education, socioeconomic class, and cultural differences. The Institute of Medicine (USA) defines global health as "health problems, issues, and concerns that transcend national boundaries, may be influenced by circumstances or experiences in other countries, and are best addressed by cooperative actions and solutions” (http://www.globalhealth.gov). It is arguable that very few, if any, contemporary human health issues are permanently limited by national or geographical boundaries. Rapid mobility of populations, international trade and commerce, transboundary conflicts, and the increasingly international flavor of regulatory issues have all demanded a broadening of the scope of public health research and training in the United States . There is possibly no more sophisticated opportunity to address transboundary health issues than that presented by the Education Abroad Program (EAP) at UC-Irvine. There is also possibly no better time in history to major in innovative and powerful public health degrees than right now, and right here at UC-Irvine. The new Public Health Program at UC-Irvine, with two brand new undergraduate degrees is uniquely positioned to take full advantage of rapid progress in the molecular Sciences, our understanding of emerging infectious diseases, informatics and communication, natural disasters and emergency health response, global environmental assessments, occupational health, human behavior, policy analysis, and international relations. These are all existing areas of scholarly strength at UC Irvine, with tremendous opportunities for students to enrich these strengths with international experience abroad." Professor Oladele Ogunseitan |