Prof. Dr. Bülent KILIÇ
Congress Chair
Dear Public Health Specialists, Academicians, Residents, and Professionals
This year, 2023, is highly special for us with being the 100th year of the Republic of Türkiye. As for that, this year, we aimed to evaluate the hundred-year development and future of public health throughout the Republic period in the Congress. The public health education which were initially given as hygiene (preventive medicine) in medical faculties in the early years of the Republic of Türkiye, were also initiated as a postgraduate specialty training in Refik Saydam Hygiene School in 1958 by the founder of public health in Türkiye and then school director Prof. Dr. Nusret Fişek. After leaving from the Ministry of Health and joining to Hacettepe University, Prof. Dr. Nusret Fişek established the Institute of Community Medicine and pioneered the public health speciality training within the university.
In the Congress, the main topics will be the development of public health discipline in Türkiye along with the today and future of speciality training, education, and public health workforce. In addition, there will be discussions over the developments regarding the public health services and policies in Türkiye throughout the hundred-year period from the establishment of the Republic to today, and suggestions regarding the future of public health in our country, opportunities, potential threats, and problems.
Having started to work with the centenary of our Republic, we will share with you the HASUDER publication titled “One Hundred Years and Future of Public Health in Türkiye”, written by our leading experts.
Following the earthquakes that we experienced on 6th February 2023, which were epicentered in Kahramanmaraş, the essential and vital place of public health specialists in post-disaster preparation stages and post-disaster situations has, once again, come into light. As HASUDER, we have the justified pride of being awarded with the 2023 Prof. Dr. Türkan Saylan Award by İstanbul Medical Chamber. We are carrying out important projects in the earthquake zone with international organisations such as UNFPA, IPPF (International Planned Parenthood Federation) and Direct Relief. We aim to share these studies and their results with you in detail at the Congress. We will also give a place to our public health specialists who work in the earthquake zone and putting their heart and soul into their work.
On the other hand, the pandemic threat (COVID-19, Monkeypox, etc.), climate crisis, refugee crisis, war and conflict crises continue all around the globe. The emerging social crisis and conflicts indicate the significant risk threatening our country as well as the world not only in terms of healthcare systems but also the social and public life. In 2023, increasing economic problems, inequalities, shaken sense of justice, erosion of soial values and polarisation of politic’s language come through as violence in many parts of life in our country. All these social determinants and risks are to be discussed at the Congress.
In light of these events, the main theme of the Congress is set to “Public Health on the 100th Anniversary of the Republic: From the Past into the Future”. In this regard, we invite everyone who is devoted to public health to the “7th International and 24th National Congress on Public Health” to be held in Antalya between 14-17 December 2023. We are as hopeful as always! At the Congress, we will endeavour to put forward an achievable and realistic public health vision for the coming period. We are confident that public health science will continue to be one of the most important fields of science and practice all over the world as it is today.
We extend our regards with the wish to come together in the rich scientific environment of the Congress with its conferences, panels, paper presentations, group studies, and various courses; to discuss problems and solutions, and be able to get together and meet face to face in order to share our studies and experiences.
