Dear Friends and Colleagues,

      It gives me immense pleasure to bring to you the accomplishments made by the Asian Institute of Public Health (AIPH) during this year. I look forward to seeing many friends and public health experts from India and abroad on January 8th, 2010 when AIPH celebrates its annual day in conjunction with an International Seminar on Childhood Nutrition and Infectious Diseases. Four of the ten proposed centers of excellence at AIPH became functional this year. While we started with significant strength in the areas of public health education, maternal and child health, nutrition, disease surveillance and translational investigations, we were very fortunate to attract some of the best talents to lead the centers for health services research and public health informatics. Our first batch of students enrolled in the certificate course in Public Health Management graduated this year. Amongst them were scholars from NRHM-Orissa, AYUSH doctors, NGO personnel, and recent university graduates. All the students are now employed. But there is need to train thousands of such experts to meet the current need of our nation. AIPH will be offering these courses on a regular basis and design other programs to meet specific needs of the state and central government and other agencies working in the health sector. During the year, AIPH has offered specialized training to the government of Orissa Health Department personnel, UNFPA, and other NGOs. We were selected as the only non-governmental body to conduct SIH&FW-sponsored training program for AYUSH physicians, and are currently conducting integrated capacity building workshops for CDMOs, ADMOs (Medical), Hospital Managers and Members of the “Rogi Kalyan Samitis” for all 30 Districts of Orissa (funded by DFID-OHSP). Our faculty completed an expert audit on early neonatal mortality in selected districts of Orissa funded by Research Triangle International, USA. Cervical cancer continues to be the biggest killer of women India. Under a new MoU with Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Center, Cuttack, AIPH is engaged in a comprehensive HPV and cervical cancer education, screening, and prevention program. I very much appreciate the unconditional support of our U.S. partner universities to AIPH during these formative years.  While dozens of Indian experts went to the U.S. for various short and medium term training, it is really gratifying to see the AIPH platform being used by several American medical students this year for their community-based studies. We expect to expand these activities and extend our collaboration to many more Indian and overseas students and scholars in the coming years. It is heartening to see our AIPH family grow, and we are excited to foster the much needed public health education, research and service in India. However, a real change in the field of public health will come in our part of the world only when many such institutions join hands to maximize their efforts with an unwavering goal of improving population health.

Sincerely,