Institute of Community & Public Health

The Institute of Community and Public Health (ICPH) was established informally in 1978. In response to the Palestinian community's urgent need for independent and informed health research and planning, it became a formal university department in 1982. In 1998, the University Board of Trustees approved a motion to upgrade the Department to an Institute in response to the University's evolving role that suits current academic and developmental needs.

The Institute has moved from its original premises in Birzeit to Ramallah in summer 2003, in response to the recurrent military restrictions of access to Birzeit, which had affected especially the students coming from the various regions of the West Bank.

The aim of the Institute is to contribute to the development of health conditions and services in Palestine by conducting policy and program-oriented research. The Institute also focuses on human resource development that can assist in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Palestinian health care system through a variety of teaching and training programs. The Institute upholds primary health care as a strategy for health and health services development, defining primary health care not merely as a clinic in a remote area, but rather as a system of health care provision that includes effective linkages and referral/re-referral mechanisms among the different levels of health care. More importantly, community mobilization, participation, inter-sectoral collaboration and equity are seen as the core of the primary health care strategy.

The Institute has formed excellent working links and relationships with the different Palestinian ministries working in the area of health, especially the Ministries of Health, Education, Agriculture, and Environment, in addition to a variety of local and international non-governmental organizations such as UNRWA health care services. The Institute actively cooperates with these institutions and groups, being part and parcel of a collective effort aimed at improving health conditions and services in the area, and ultimately, the quality of life of Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.