India’s newest public health university to be headquartered in Hyderabad

The Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH), Hyderabad, along with its Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar campuses, has been granted the status of an institution, deemed to be a university, under a distinct category by the Ministry of Education. The announcement was made through a Gazette notification dated July 5.

In conversation with The Hindu, K. Srinath Reddy, founder president of the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), discusses what this means for the future of public health education in India, the immediate next steps, and why Hyderabad is the right place to lead this transformation.

What does this recognition mean for your larger vision for public health in India?

The Public Health Foundation of India was founded to bring in multidisciplinary expertise that can translate into multisectoral actions for protecting and promoting health. This includes everything from community-level health promotion to individual health protection. To achieve that, we need a large and diverse public health workforce, researchers, programme implementers, community engagement specialists, and people who can support both policy development and on-ground implementation of national and state health programmes. The existing institutional capacity in India was insufficient. Medical colleges, though doing their part, lack the multidisciplinary bandwidth. Traditional universities were also not open to public health as a field.

What kind of challenges were you facing earlier that this new status will help overcome?

We did not have the freedom to design our courses or introduce new programmes as we saw fit. Most of our institutes had to affiliate with existing universities, which sometimes slowed us down. Only our Gujarat institute had university status and could operate autonomously. With this recognition, we gain the freedom and flexibility to innovate. We need to prepare for future pandemics, ageing populations, and the rise of non-communicable diseases. This new status empowers us to do just that.

What are the immediate priorities now that you have received the recognition?

First, we need to set up the university structure and fulfil administrative formalities. Then, we will begin designing our courses, many of which are already in planning stages, and start offering them, ideally from the coming academic year. The demand for trained public health professionals is high, and we must rise to the occasion. As someone who grew up in Hyderabad and studied medicine at Osmania Medical College (OMC), I feel a special pride in having the university hub in this city but our vision remains pan-India.

Will this change the kinds of academic programmes you offer, especially at the undergraduate level?

So far, we have been offering diplomas, Master’s in Public Health, and some PhD programmes, either through affiliated universities or in partnership with international institutions. With our new autonomy, we are actively considering launching undergraduate programmes too.

How will the university respond to India’s evolving public health landscape?

India is undergoing rapid transitions, demographic, nutritional, and socio-economic. These are pushing a broader health transition, which is not uniform across the country. The pace and process differ by state and even district. So, while we look at the national picture, we must also tailor solutions to local needs. That means training professionals who can design and deliver health interventions based on local realities, preferably at the district level.

Lastly, what will this university status mean for Telangana?

We have to begin by serving the local population. Our motto is to be locally committed and nationally engaged. Telangana has unique public health needs, and we are ready to support the state government in any way possible.