School structure
The school has two university divisions, Public Health and Family Medicine.

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND FAMILY MEDICINE (Director: Prof Leslie London)

Division of Family Medicine (Head: A/Prof Derek Hellenberg)

Division of Public Health (Head: Prof Leslie London)

Within the Public Health Division there are four research units or centres and two further research groupings, as detailed below:

>>> Health Economics Unit (Director: Dr Susan Cleary)

>>> Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health Research (Director: Prof Jonny Myers)

>>> Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit (Director: Dr David Coetzee)

>>> Women's Health Research Unit (Director: A/Prof Diane Cooper)

>>> Health and Human Rights Programme (Head: Prof Leslie London)

>>> Health Policy and Health Systems (Head: Prof Lucy Gilson)

The development of a health system capable of promoting health, preventing injury and disease and resultant disability and premature death, providing appropriate care for patients and reducing health inequalities constitutes a social challenge of the highest order. In the School of Public Health and Family Medicine we seek to contribute to these goals through education, service and consultancy, and research.

Education
The School has over 280 postgraduate students registered for one of 14 different qualifications in public health, family medicine, palliative medicine, health economics, health management and occupational health. A number of these are offered as flexible on-off campus programmes. In our teaching of medical undergraduates we emphasise primary health care principles, including community oriented practice, holistic patient management and the use of public health sciences to promote health and prevent disease.

Service and consultancy
Via joint appointments the School is closely associated with the Department of Health of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. We also have consultancy arrangements with the national Departments of Labour, Mineral and Energy Affairs and Finance among others, and with international and local NGOs, trade unions and private companies. Our staff provide services in clinical care, health personnel training, measurement and evaluation and policy formulation. This service platform enables the School to build its teaching and research on a firm understanding of social need and practice.

Research
The School has four dedicated research units – in Health Economics, Women’s Health, Occupational and Environmental Health and Infectious Disease Epidemiology – and programmes in Health and Human Rights and Health Policy / Health Systems. Our research questions derive from local and regional priorities – HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, cervical cancer, occupational and environmental lung disease, health care access and financing, health rights and many more. This enables the School to sustain a range of research projects, from student initiated dissertation research to multicentre trials, many of these in collaboration with local and international partners.

Latest Annual Research Report

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