Highlights of the IANPHI Executive Board Meeting
The IANPHI Executive Board held a meeting on August 25, 2020 via conference call.
IANPHI President André van der Zande welcomed board members, as well as the Latin America and European Regional Networks Chairs, guests of national public health institutes (NPHI) from Colombia’s National Health Institute, Public Health England, the German Robert Koch Institute, and the Saudi Arabian National Centre for Disease Control, and staff from the IANPHI Secretariat. The quorum to vote on the decisions was reached with five members in attendance out of 14.
1. Co-signature of the statement “Public health for the future of humanity: One planet, One people, One health”
André van der Zande presented the request for a co-signature on the statement “One planet, One people, One health”, prepared by the UK Faculty of Public Health, EUPHA and the World Federation of Public Health Associations. This letter encourages a unified cross-sectoral response to public health challenges and social inequalities.
Decision: The Board agreed to co-sign the statement in the name of IANPHI.
2. Organization of the virtual 2020 IANPHI Annual Meeting
André van der Zandepresented the detailed schedule for this year’s Annual Meeting. Four sessions will be held, two on December 1 and two on December 2. Each session will last between one hour and one hour and half.
- Session 1 on December 1: IANPHI General Assembly
- Session 2 on December 1: IANPHI Strategy
- Session 3 on December 2: Lessons learned from COVID-19
- Session 4 on December 2: Conclusions from the IANPHI Strategy session
Decision: The Board agreed on the format and length of the sessions proposed. The Secretariat will continue working on the event using this roadmap, jointly with Felix Rosenberg and the Fiocruz organization team.
3. IANPHI Finances
Gemma Lien from Public Health England, who participated to the latest Treasurer meeting, presented on behalf of Duncan Selbie.
Budget 2020
The annual budget balance is positive, which is due in part to the cancellation of events and activities, such as the annual meeting, two peer-to-peer reviews and all travels, which were not able to take place in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Payments of dues are in a better position today, compared to last year at the same time, and is improving year after year.
The Secretariat is working jointly with the accountant of the Association, Marc Baert, to find the best way to operate during this first year of financial autonomy for the Association. The provisional end of year budget statement as well as next year budget will be prepared for the October Executive Board meeting, ahead of the General Assembly.
Payment Policy
The Payment Policy is a practical document on membership fees, which describes the purpose of the fees, the member categories, the fee amount, payment process and waiver possibilities. The aim of this document is to bring all information related to membership dues into one document to be shared with members.
Decision: The members of the Board approved the Payment Policy document.
4. Membership
The Institute of Public Health in Ireland and the National Institute for Research on Nutrition and Health in Costa Rica Ireland requested a discount to allow them to pay their (reduced) dues, because of their current difficult situation.
Decision: The members of the Board granted both reductions.
5. Partnership with APHEA
Following the last Executive Board meeting and an informal discussion with John Middletown, president of the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA) and past president of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER), IANPHI Director Anne-Catherine Viso invited board members to join a IANPHI working group to exchange with APHEA. IANPHI is a full member of APHEA. The idea behind this working group is to understand and explore the benefits of a collaboration between IANPHI, NPHIs and APHEA.
Board members Juan Rivera, director of Mexico's National Institute of Public Health, and Abdullah Algwizani, chief executive officer of the Saudi Arabia Centers for Disease Control, both agreed to join the working group.
This online version of the IANPHI Executive Board meeting report reflects actions taken at the most recent meeting of the IANPHI Executive Board and is provided for the convenience of IANPHI members. This online document is not the official, complete record of the actions of the IANPHI Executive Board, it is merely a summary of actions taken. The IANPHI Executive Board’s official minutes, in their entirety, are on file with the IANPHI Secretariat. Should you have any questions about this online summary of the agenda, actions taken, or the minutes of the meetings of the IANPHI Executive Board, please contact the IANPHI Secretariat at secretariat@ianphi.org.