Curriculum

Professor John Justino from the School of Public Health is teaching a course on issues in public health and sustainability: HSPH 259 Topics in Public Health

What are some of the topics that you cover in your course?

The course covers the most important global disease burden issues and how they relate to meeting the targets set under SDG 3 (good health and well-being). We also introduce the topic of sustainable development and how this underpins the development of the SDGs in general. In addition, the course covers other topics that relate closely to the SDGs: health and human rights, health equity and social justice, women’s and children’s health, and global environmental health challenges (including climate change and health).

What interested you about teaching a course on global health?

For much of my career I lived and worked abroad (primarily in sub-Saharan Africa) leading global public health programs with funding from a wide range of international development assistance agencies. Here at the University at Albany School of Public Health I work with students interested in global health studies and in launching global careers. So the topic of Global Health is one that I am quite passionate about and I enjoy sharing my experiences with interested students.

Do you have any specific sustainability learning objectives for this course?

Our main focus related to sustainability is to link the SDGs, and in particular SDG 3, the global burden of disease issues.

How do you measure if students have increased their sustainability literacy?

Students’ knowledge is evaluated via in-class assignments, exams, online discussion forum and in class discussions focused on key topics related to global health and their links to the SDGs (in particular the achievement of SDG 3 targets). In addition they apply their learning by developing a needs assessment paper for a selected low or lower-middle income country.

Is there anything else you want students to know about this course?

Given the fact that ensuring health and well-being is critical to a country’s sustainable development, this course touches on topics closely associated with many of the SDGs. For instance, our focus on the social determinants of health and health equity concerns relate closely to SDG 4, 5, and 10. The global environmental health topics covered related not only to SDG 6, but also to SDGs 10, 11, and 12. Our lectures on Health and Human Rights relates directly to SDG 16.