ENHANCING PROFESSIONALISM IN PUBLIC HEALTH

Although science has provided a foundation for public health, social values have shaped the system. The paradigm and boundaries of public health have changed over time and new challenges await the public health, professions, not only in managing diseases but also in areas such as social problems, political, economic and ideological shifts within the government and the nation. We need more and better-trained public health professionals to meet the new challenges. We should identify and train the leaders of tomorrow in the attitudes, knowledge and skills of high-level leadership, to enable them to step into the limelight and lead from the front. Developing the health system of the future will require enormous changes. Our paradigm of health and healthcare will have to change and the health system will have to be reorganised, and so will the educational orientation for public health specialists and other public health professionals, to meet the challenges in public health. Research works are urgently needed to support the development of new models, systems, strategies and work processes in the health system. To sum up, the common theme in enhancing professionalism in public health is change. As Alvin Toffler said, "change is not merely necessary to life, it is life". This idea was further supported by the Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, who commented "it is not reform that is the enemy of public services. It's the status quo"