ASPHER's Spring 2020 Newsletter is now available for download here. 

This Spring 2020 newsletter is largely focussed on COVID-19 activities that ASPHER and our members have been involved in. There is also a section on Regular ASPHER Business with important updates and information about items like the ASPHER Deans' & Directors Retreat, the General Assembly Meeting, ASPHER 2025 Strategy, open nominations and other items. Finally it wraps up with other important communications.

Note that we will be transitioning to monthly communications starting in June to allow your news and announcment to reach the ASPHER network in the most timely way possible. Please be sure to contact Lore at lore.leighton@aspher.org with details on anything you wish to share.

For a more detailed review of the content, see the Secretariat Message below.

MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARIAT

ASPHER Secretariat hopes all ASPHER Members are in good health and holding up in these strange times. The COVID-19 pandemic is a catastrophic and ongoing event, but it is an important opportunity for Schools of Public Health (SPH) to step up, have our voices heard and show the public, governments, and decision makers what public health can do as we roll up our sleeves and tackle this challenge, both in the short- and long-term. 

To this end, we have convened the ASPHER COVID-19 Task Force which has been reflecting on and actioning the ASPHER response and SPH perspectives on the pandemic. You can read more about the Task Force, its achievements and ongoing activities below. We encourage all interested Members to get involved with the overall Task Force or any of its topical sub-groups. The Task Force is also looking for students or alumni from Member Schools who wish to lend their time and hone their skills reporting on specific COVID-19 related topics. The ASPHER Secretariat sees this as an opportunity to begin to co-create the regular network of students and alumni outlined in the ASPHER 2025 Strategy.

We are encouraging Members to make COVID-19 activities at your schools recognisable as being part of the greater actions of public health by branding them with the This Is Public Health (TIPH) logo and to let us know when you do. You’ll find more on why we think this is important and how to get electronic logos later in the newsletter. Also, don’t miss the upcoming webinar on 11 May on the changing nature of the TIPH campaign after COVID-19, it will feature the winning TIPH campaigns and several of our partner organisations. We’d also like to ask you to send short informal videos of what your School has been doing during the crisis so we may showcase them at aspher.org!

ASPHER is keeping up with our partner organisations and coordinating and sharing COVID-19 related resources. This includes a highlight below on video webinars from IANPHI and an opinion piece form ASPHER on strengthening the public health workforce in light of the pandemic in EPHA’s blog/newsletter.

Meanwhile, time is moving on and we are beginning to return attention to the usual business of ASPHER. We were deeply disappointed to have to postpone the 2020 ASPHER Deans & Directors Retreat in Sofia. The Retreat is always the highlight of ASPHER’s year, but we are making contingency plans to stay engaged with an online programme on Tuesday 2 June. We look forward to socializing with everyone from a physical distance, so mark your calendars!

Perhaps the most important piece of ASPHER news is the nomination of Carlo Signorelli for the ASPHER Presidency. Carlo has a history of serving in the field of public health with excellence, coming to us from Vita-Salute San Raffaele University of Milan and currently serving on the ASPHER Executive Board. The ASPHER Executive Board highly endorses Carlo’s candidature and we look forward to his confirmation by acclamation at the ASPHER General Assembly.

In addition to the virtual Retreat, the ASPHER General Assembly will be held online on Thursday 10 September. This will give us time to take a more considered approach to the second draft of the ASPHER 2025 Strategy. We will be circulating that to you later this month for a second round of feedback. With the later date for the General Assembly, we are also extending the deadline calls for currently unfilled nominations for the ASPHER Executive Board, Andreja Stampar Award, and Good Practice Award. Make sure to send us your nominees! 

ASPHER is thrilled to announce that on 15 May, along with the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), we will be launching the Global Network for Academic Public Health. The Global Network will bring together Schools of Public Health Associations from all corners of the World. At this time it is more critical than ever that we come together and this is a great leap forward. ASPPH (North America), APACPH (Asia-Pacific) and ASPHA (Africa) will also be joining us at the online ASPHER Retreat on 2 June.

We usually prefer to wait until the Retreat to welcome new ASPHER Members, but given the current conditions the Secretariat would like to welcome new provisional member schools: Department of Health Care Management, School of Health Sciences, University of Georgia; Centre of Public Health Sciences, University of Iceland; Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College, London; and Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna. With the delayed General Assembly, we’d like to welcome even more, so if you have colleagues at other schools who would benefit from joining the ASPHER family, please encourage them to apply!

ASPHER Intern, Rana Orhan has launched a survey on Climate action at public health schools in the European region. Read more on that below and be sure to help make her project a success by filling out the information from your school.

Finally, with everything going on please don’t forget about the upcoming European Public Health Week beginning 11 May. EUPHA and all the participants made it a great success last year and there is still time now to register an activity at your school or country.

Very best wishes and good health,

Robert Otok, Lore Leighton, Naomi Nathan
ASPHER Secretariat

Please don’t forget to share your news with lore.leighton@aspher.org to be included in the next regular issue of the Newsletter or on the ASPHER website activity log. We are planning to start publishing more regular monthly newsletter reports which will better ensure timely release of your announcements to the ASPHER Membership! Finally, we always appreciate any comments and/or suggestions for improvements for us to consider for the newsletter - let us know!