The decision to create an umbrella organization named Hungarian Association of Public Health Training and Research Institutes (HAPHI) was made on a scientific meeting held 15-17November 2007 in Hajdúszoboszló on which representatives of almost all Hungarian public health institutes took part.
As the Memorandum of the HAPHI defines the mission of the organization is supporting the development and implementation of evidence-based public health interventions by graduate and postgraduate training of public health professionals, research and consultancy work of high quality.
The main objectives of HAPHI’s activities are
- to develop, maintain and improve interactions and collaborations between the member institutes by organizing regular meetings and conferences for exchange research findings, ideas and experience,
- the actuation of the periodical of HAPHI, the Népegészségügy (Public Health) journal and publishing professional documents,
- to develop wide collaborations in the international public health arena to make the Hungarian research findings and experience visible and adopt best practices from international partners.
In harmony with its mission and these objectives HAPHI is a full member of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) from 2008, is active in its Governing Board and delegates president and vice president to the EUPHA Healthy Ageing Section and president to the EUPHA Public Health Genomics Section.
The research conference of HAPHI is organized on an annual basis and large numbers of teachers/researchers from the HAPHI member institutes participate at the EUPHA meetings year by year. In addition, HAPHI gives a special attention to public health challenges in the Visegrad Group countries – the 4th V4 Public Health meeting was organized by HAPHI in Debrecen 2019.
The success of HAPHI activities can be documented by publications in international journals on findings born from their collaborations, the development of the proposal public health strategy entitled „National Public Health Program 2023-2033” strategic plan, as well as the continuous operation of the journal Népegészségügy (Public Health) having a 100 years history.
The international reputation of HAPHI is indicated by the fact, that in 2020 the founding president of HAPHI, Róza Ádány was awarded by the World Federation of Public Health Associations’ highest honour, the Hugh R. Leavell Award for exceptional contribution to improve population health globally.