History

First envisioned in 2001 by Jeffrey Koplan (former director of the US CDC and IANPHI president) and Pekka Puska (director general of Finland’s National Institute of Public Health and Welfare – THL), IANPHI was supported through initial grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The association was chartered in 2006 with a $20 million, five-year grant through Emory University from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

IANPHI was formally launched at its first annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with 39 founding members. With a current membership of more than 60 NPHI directors from around the world, IANPHI continues to expand the network and operationalize an ambitious agenda of collaboration, service, and advocacy.