IIPHG

Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar

Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG) is India’s first Public Health University. The Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPHG) is working towards building a healthier India. IIPHG is an example of the visionary leadership of Honourable Shri Narendra Modi (then Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat), who laid the foundation stone and provided support for establishing the institute in 2008. The government of Gujarat and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) entered an MoU in 2007 to establish IIPHG. Under the MoU, the Government of Gujarat allocated land and agreed to share a part of the project cost.

IIPHG aims to strengthen the overall health system in the country through education, training, research, and advocacy/policy initiatives. The institute started its operation in July 2008 from its interim location in Ahmedabad with the commencement of its 1st batch of Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health Management (PGDPHM). In-service medical officers from the states of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh were sponsored by National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to attend this course. IIPHG is recognized as a University under the IIPHG Act 2015 of the Government of Gujarat. For more details, visit our Approval and Recognition Section.

IIPHG is India’s largest Public Health University and is the Hub for Excellence in Public Health Teaching, Public Health Innovation, Research, and Practice.IIPHG is currently registered as a Society under the Societies Act. The institute has a Governing Council with four secretaries of the government as ex-officio members and four representatives of PHFI as members. 

In news: In 2013, the city of Ahmedabad, in Gujarat State, India, adopted and has begun implementing the first Heat Action Plan in South Asia. This was the result of two years of research, engagement and awareness-raising carried out by IIPHG and with AMC and NRDC support. The HAP provides a framework for the implementation, coordination, and evaluation of extreme heat response activities in Ahmedabad. The HAP alerts those populations most at risk of heat-related illness that extreme heat conditions can exacerbate, and to take appropriate precautions. The HAP also includes active heat mitigation measures, such as the Ahmedabad Cool Roofs Program. Key components of the Ahmedabad HAP include:

a) Building Public Awareness and Community Outreach

b) Initiating an Early Warning System and Inter-Agency Coordination

c) Capacity Building among Health Care Professionals

d) Reducing Heat Exposure and Promoting Adaptive Measures

IIPH expanded and scaled out the Heat Action Plan. Engagement and technical support to the Gujarat State Government with the mainstream heat-health action within the State Action Plan on Climate Change and sectoral policies and plans. The components of HAP also include the active and passive application of technology to reduce indoor and ambient temperatures, such as increasing green cover and scaling up of cool roof technologies. Lastly, through a dedicated learning and knowledge management component, the project leveraged national and other programs to facilitate wider scaling-out.

NRDC: Improving Air Quality in India or the Ahmedabad Air Information & Response (AIR) Plan

The ultimate goal of this project is to improve public health and contribute to building cleaner, safer, and more sustainable cities in India by tackling air pollution through city-level programs. The AIR Plan is a comprehensive air pollution alert and health communication system based on real-time data through an air quality index (AQI) system.

With this project, we aim to deepen the implementation of the Ahmedabad program and explore scaling to other key Indian cities. First, we will further institutionalize the Ahmedabad AIR Plan within the city government through monitoring, public awareness, and control strategies. Second, we will leverage our relationship with the Gujarat Pollution Control Board to integrate city and state action on monitoring and control strategies through a series of focused workshops. Third, we will ramp-up cross-learnings from New Delhi and leading cities and explore scaling the AIR plan to other key cities. We will also continue to build capacity within our on-the-ground team, as well as among our partners working on air pollution and implementing climate solutions.

The main components of the AIR Plan are:

i. Health-based color-coded AQI warning system;

ii. Public awareness and communication outreach campaign, including a mobile app, email alerts, and the development of Information, Education and Communications (IEC) materials in the local language;

iii. Activities focused on vulnerable groups, including a school flags program; 

iv. Capacity building among medical professionals;

v. Pollution reduction and mitigation, including the development of an emissions inventory and a local expert working group.

The AIR Plan is unique in focusing on health as an entry-point that creates immediate and longer-term actions to increase preparedness, information-sharing and response to reduce the health impacts and drive mitigation.

India Health Co-benefit by 2030" project funded by NRDC (Duration- September 2019 to 2022)

Ahmedabad faces air pollution challenges and is implementing climate resilience efforts. This is a collaborative project between IIPHG, NRDC and IITM. Our experience as collaborating partners enables access to infrastructure, baseline environmental and health data, and technical expertise needed to execute the proposed research.

The project is an interdisciplinary analysis that aims to:

1. model how climate change shapes 2030 energy demand, including cooling (Aim 1);

2. quantify the 2030 PM2.5 impacts of climate mitigation and adaptation (Aim 2);

3.      Estimate the health effects of 2030 PM2.5 scenarios compared to a 2018 baseline (Aim 3).