The need for one health degree programs

Kahn, Laura H.

Schools of public health have played an important role in promoting population health through disciplines such as epidemiology and biostatistics. Interdisciplinary public health professionals have made significant advances in areas such as the control of infectious diseases, vaccination, sanitation and waste removal, and safer and healthier foods. Public health successes have yielded life expectancy increases by over 25 years (3) . Indeed, public health efforts have been so successful that the United Nations estimates that the planet will experience a substantial increase in the human population, which will reach 9.3 billion by 2050 and 10 billion by 2100 (4). These developments present new challenges to the public health community that could be considered even more daunting than those of the previous century. Growing population needs for food, land, water, and energy has placed unsustainable demands on the planet. This is a global public health problem.