*** Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this report contains the name and image of someone who has passed ***
Introduction by Croakey: Advice on how to decolonise public health, and many other useful resources for safe climate and public health advocates were shared during the second Global Public Health Week (GPHW), which kicked off on 3 April under the theme, ‘Building a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient health system’.
Organised by the World Federation of Public Health Associations, GPHW brings together institutions, communities, and public health actors from around the world to recognise the contributions of public health and its workforce.
“Public health has been the ‘invisible guardian’ of our health for decades,” the WFPHA said in a related statement.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made the public health field more apparent and appreciated. However, the risk of regression post-pandemic is high. We cannot lose this momentum; we need to act now to prevent the next pandemic. Making public health visible and understood is a key step for emergency preparedness. Facilitating sharing of the knowledge, resources and barriers faced by public health professionals globally is key to improving public health in all contexts.”
Our thanks to the WFPHA for covering #GPHW2023 from Croakey’s rotated Twitter account, @WePublicHealth. A summary follows below under the five themes of the week (see a list of related events here).
Preparing public health professionals and associations for the new challenges
In this webinar, Māori public health researcher Emma Rawson-Te Patu, vice president and president-elect of the WFPHA, joined colleagues in discussing decolonising public health.
She described her research and work in dismantling institutional racism, and how organisations in Aotearoa New Zealand are moving to governance models embedding the principles and human rights dimensions of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
This included valuing Indigenous knowledge and capability through all functions, and recognising the importance of sovereignty and relationship.
Decolonising public health is a challenge, Rawson-Te Patu said, but “we have the knowledge, tools and willingness”. She told webinar participants that, “we need you to understand how you fit in, how you can be the change”.
She paid tribute to the late Dr Moana Jackson, and played a song of advocacy and activism by Ria Hall, titled ‘Owner’ (watch it here, and read the lyrics here).
Professor Luis Eugenio De Souza, president of the WFPHA, said that just as colonisation is not a single phenomenon, so is decolonising different things in different contexts.
Other events focused on public health workforce matters from Colombia to Mongolia and Europe, canvassing topics including the infodemic, pandemic and the psychological distress and moral injury of healthcare workers as a public health priority. 
Read about the history of public health.
Tackling the climate crisis
The impacts of the climate crisis, including how heat stress is harming manual labourers, pregnant women and newborns, were highlighted, and many resources were shared.
See the ENBEL video.
See the ENBEL resources. 
Read more about the research mentioned above. 
Read the report from South America. 
Read the South America report.
Watch the video about heat stress in Africa.
Watch the video about heat impacts upon pregnant women and newborns.
Watch the video about heat impacts upon labourers, and occupational health concerns.
Find out about ClimApp. 
Watch the poetry reading here.
Empowering our communities – protecting minorities and the most vulnerable
Making health a human right
World in turmoil: a discussion to be continued
See the co-design discussion and resources. 
See the milestones of public health.
The closing ceremony, previewing the World Congress on Public Health in Rome next month, was led by Professor Luis Eugenio de Souza, President of the WFPHA, Professor Roberta Siliquini, President of the Italian Society of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, and Professor Carlo Signorelli, President of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region.
See other articles from @WePublicHealth guest tweeters this year, and the #WorldInTurmoil series
