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Course

Fundamentals of Public Health

Dr. Fantu Lombamo Untiso, Public Health Specialist Medical Doctor · St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College

Other · Basic · 900 min · 14 Nov 2026

A 3-week introduction to public health for health students and workers: history, concepts, determinants, global health, emerging threats, evidence-based practice, UHC and Ethiopian health policy, and community needs assessment. 120 quiz questions with explanations, activities and a practice exam.

⬇ Download the PDF (600 KB)

About this course

Course code PHPH6012. 2 credit hours. 3 weeks. No prerequisites.
This course introduces what public health is and why it matters. Every chapter has a lesson, activities, a multiple-choice quiz with explained answers, short-answer questions with model answers and a group task. Data and policy content was updated in November 2026 from WHO, UN and Ethiopian Ministry of Health sources.

Start here

  • Open the chapters from the list under this text. Each lesson page has the reading, activities, a quiz and a review.
  • After the chapters, use the study tools below the list: practice exam, projects and grading, references and your notes.
  • Download the PDF course book attached to this item.

What you will be able to do

  • Describe health and public health and related concepts.
  • Review the evolution, historical development and philosophical foundations of public health.
  • Identify the unique features and core functions of public health.
  • Conceptualise public policy implications of the various approaches of public health.
  • Discuss determinants of health and diseases.
  • Apply evidence-based practice and evidence-based public health (EBPH).
  • Analyse transitions in health and their impact on health-care delivery.
  • Prioritise important public health diseases.
  • Describe important emerging and re-emerging public health problems.
  • Discuss globalisation and dimensions of global change.
  • Synthesise the health implications of globalisation, urbanisation and development.
  • Identify the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and evaluate the status of the SDGs in different contexts.
  • Describe principles and values of public health ethics.
  • Evaluate health equity and equality in health care.
  • Analyse universal health coverage in Ethiopia.
  • Conduct and apply community health assessment procedures.

Plan

  • Week 1: Chapters 1 to 3 (history and philosophy; basic concepts; core approaches)
  • Week 2: Chapters 4 to 7 (determinants; transitions; global health; emerging and re-emerging problems)
  • Week 3: Chapters 8 to 10 (evidence-based practice; UHC, SDGs and Ethiopian policy; needs assessment), then the practice exam

Assessment

  • Individual project or term paper: 25%
  • Group work and presentation: 25%
  • Final written examination: 50%

In this course

  1. Chapter 1. Development and Philosophy of Public Health
  2. Chapter 2. Basic Concepts and Features of Public Health
  3. Chapter 3. Core Public Health Approaches
  4. Chapter 4. Health and Disease Determinants
  5. Chapter 5. Transitions in Health and Development
  6. Chapter 6. Global Health
  7. Chapter 7. Emerging and Re-emerging Public Health Problems
  8. Chapter 8. Evidence-Based Public Health and Healthcare Practice
  9. Chapter 9. Universal Health Coverage, SDGs, Ethiopian Health Policy and HSTP
  10. Chapter 10. Needs Assessment in Public Health and Organising Public Health Programmes (Priority Setting)
  11. Chapter 11. New chapter

Study tools

References

  1. World Health Organization. World health statistics 2026: monitoring health for the SDGs. Geneva: WHO; 2026. Open
  2. World Health Organization. World health statistics 2026: a visual summary. Geneva: WHO; 2026. Open
  3. Health Policy Watch. Zero for 52: WHO warns world set to miss every global health target by 2030. 2026. Open
  4. World Health Organization. Amended International Health Regulations enter into force. News release, 19 September 2025. Open
  5. World Health Organization. WHO Member States agree to extend negotiations on pathogen access and benefit sharing annex. News release, 1 May 2026. Open
  6. World Health Organization. Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly concludes: historic outcomes, consequential highlights. 28 May 2025. Open
  7. WHO and World Bank. Global monitoring report on universal health coverage and financial protection, 2025 (summary of key findings). Open
  8. World Health Organization. Disease Outbreak News: Marburg virus disease, Ethiopia. 26 January 2026. Open
  9. World Health Organization. Global tuberculosis report 2025. Geneva: WHO; 2025. Open
  10. CIDRAP. WHO cites progress against TB globally but warns about reduced funding. November 2025. Open
  11. World Health Organization. World malaria report 2025: partner briefing. Geneva: WHO; 2025. Open
  12. World Health Organization. World leaders adopt a historic global declaration on noncommunicable diseases and mental health. News release, 16 December 2025. Open
  13. GBD 2023 Causes of Death Collaborators. Global burden of disease study 2023. The Lancet, October 2025 (summary reported by Down To Earth). Open
  14. UNICEF and WHO. Global childhood immunization coverage inches forward despite conflict and hesitancy (WUENIC 2025 data). July 2026. Open
  15. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Ministry of Health. Health Sector Medium-Term Development and Investment Plan (HSDIP) 2016-2018 EFY (2023/24-2025/26). Addis Ababa; 2023. Open
  16. UNICEF Ethiopia. Health budget brief 2024/25. Addis Ababa: UNICEF; 2024. Open
  17. The Reporter Ethiopia. Health Ministry expands public health initiative amid funding decline (interview with the MoH HIV Prevention and Control Executive Office Lead). 14 February 2026. Open
  18. UNICEF Ethiopia. Humanitarian Situation Report No. 3 (Mid-Year), 30 June 2026. Open
  19. Towards applying the essential public health functions for building health systems resilience: a renewed list and key enablers for operationalization. Open-access article, PubMed Central (PMC9895390). Open
  20. World Health Organization. 21st century health challenges: can the essential public health functions make a difference? Discussion paper. Geneva: WHO; 2021. Open
  21. FAO. Ethiopia launches the National Action Plan for Health Security and National One Health Five-Year Strategic Plan. Open
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