Τhe Observatory for Public Health Policy and Organisation aims to promote awareness, understanding, consensus, and education in Greece regarding contemporary approaches and strategies in Public Health, through dialogue and collaboration at political, scientific, and social levels. It is an initiative of the Bodossaki Foundation with the contribution of the World Health Organization Greece and with strategic partners the National Hellenic Research Foundation, the Hellenic Pasteur Institute, and the Athens Medical Society. Its operation is supported pro bono by a 20-member Scientific Committee composed of distinguished experts from the interdisciplinary, academic, and professional fields of Public Health. Further collaborations with agencies, organizations and representatives of Civil Society will be developed to implement the Observatory’s activities.
The Observatory aspires to serve as an open and inclusive platform for dialogue and innovation and has a dual purpose:
a) to promote mutual understanding and consensus on contemporary concepts, approaches, and strategies in Public Health, focusing on the major challenges and priorities in Public Health today
b) to monitor and facilitate the adoption and implementation of these concepts and approaches by the relevant political, scientific, and social stakeholders involved or responsible.
The Observatory for Public Health Policy and Organisation succeeds from the “Action Plan for Public Health in the 21st Century” by the Bodossaki Foundation, which presented the building blocks of a modern Public Health System and proposed interventions covering all aspects of Public Health. As a next step, the Observatory, based on its thematic priority areas, studies the full spectrum of Public Health functions, such as the assessment of population health needs, health promotion, protection and prevention, crisis management, as well as issues of leadership, organisation, governance, staffing, and resource management.
The complex challenges of Public Health today require evidence-based policies, cross-sectoral governance, and organisational reforms. Fundamental concepts such as equality, sustainability, resilience, and social determinants of health define contemporary strategies for prevention, promotion, and crisis management.
The Observatory will be hosted by the National Hellenic Research Foundation, a strategic partner of the initiative.