Defining goals

·        Leadership and facilitation: to play both a leadership and facilitating role in advocating for public health

·        Focus on core determinants of public health: to focus on improvement of factors which have a significant impact on the health of populations

·        Scientific grounding: to build upon a state-of-the-art knowledge base in the social and natural sciences

·        Holism and ecology: to honor a broad, ecological vision of health etiology

·        Participation and empowerment: to create opportunities for participation and empowerment for those whose health is in question

·        Equity of opportunity: to work toward equity of opportunity for all

·        Humanism and humanitarianism: to prize and engage uniquely human potentials and to encourage empathy and caring