Building the infrastructure for public health

Abstract

‘Success’ in public health is facilitated by the ability to attract and retain a well-trained and enthusiastic workforce and a suitable, stable infrastructure. This article briefly describes steps taken at the end of the 1980s both to determine the need for and to create a public health infrastructure and workforce for NSW. These initiatives have contributed to the continuing development of a robust and dynamic public health community that has demonstrated its capacity to respond to a wide variety of challenges.