Building new knowledge: Celebrating the Wits School of Public Health (WSPH)

Notwithstanding worldwide aggregate improvements in the health of individuals and communities, (1, 2) overall progress has been marred by a multiplicity of factors. These include: the changing burden and complexity of disease profiles; the social, political, economic and environmental drivers of ill-health, unacceptable health inequalities between and within countries, and inadequate or poorly performing health systems (1, 3). Common shortcomings of contemporary health systems include fragmented, inappropriate, misdirected or poor quality care which mitigate against a comprehensive and balanced response to population health needs (1). All these challenges are more acute in sub-Saharan Africa, which faces additional problems of financial and human resource constraints and low investment in health research (3, 4). In South Africa, health status indicators are poor relative to the country’s economic development and health care expenditure (5). This is exacerbated by the suboptimal performance of the health system, particularly at the district level (6 9). Significant efforts are required to overcome the HIV and TB epidemics, address persistent health inequalities, improve the quality of health care provision, and improve health outcomes (6). Schools of Public Health in Africa have a critical role to play in responding to these many systemic issues that confound improvements in population health. While solutions are complex, key priorities for action include: revitalising primary health care (PHC); addressing the crisis in human resources for health; conducting relevant research to respond to the advanced health and social transitions underway in the country, increase our understanding of barriers to improved population health, and to the performance of the health system; and policy advocacy and engagement that promotes effective stewardship and leadership of the health system (10 16). In this supplement of Global Health Action we present a contribution of the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg to these critical issues. The mission of the Wits School of Public Health (WSPH) is to respond to the public health challenges facing South and sub-Saharan Africa, through research, the production of skilled, critical and adaptable graduates, and contributing to international scholarship and capacity building. The supplement brings together two commentaries and 23 scholarly articles that share historical developments at the WSPH, present methodological innovations in public health and explore themes that have captured global attention in recent years: improving the health of communities and of workers; understanding population health risk factors; human resources for health; and optimising health system performance.