The Belgian Association of Public Health (BAPH) A closer acquaintance

Public health is a very broad domain. Yet, it can encroach deeply in individual lives. The recent and more chronic examples are manifold: swine flu outbreak, obesity, illicit drug use, BSE, dioxin crisis, and so on. However, Belgian scientific research on public health does not seem to be in the right proportion to the importance of the subject. Since many years, the Belgian Association of Public Health (BAPH) tries to bring together Belgian public health research and researchers. The BAPH is a scientific organisation of research groups and institutions, health workers and policy makers who are active in the field of public health. The aims of the association are to increase the knowledge in different domains of public health, to stimulate public health research and to improve public health practices by bringing together researchers and field workers. To achieve these aims, the association organises thematic scientific meetings, often in collaboration with a university. Every two years the association organises a national symposium. For spreading research results and information, the BAPH can count on the Archives of Public Health, which is the official Journal of the BAPH.