Public health by its history and practice is a field that involves a multidisciplinary approach. As such, its effective practice in any country calls for close collaboration among many professionals in this light that the world federation of public health association (WFPHA) is constituted by national multidisciplinary association concerned with public health generally as distinct from single or individual disciplines, subjects, professions, or occupations.
While Nigeria has a long history of public health practice and several disciplinary public health professionals, efforts in the country to establish a multidisciplinary public health association have had chequered trajectory and no positive result till date. As such, Nigeria with all her strides and her potentials in public health practice does not have full membership of the WFPHA. That unfortunate history is set to come to an end with the recenting historic meeting of various leaders of public health disciplinary groups which held in Ile-Ife on February 9 and 10, 2012. The meeting , which was co-hosted By the Institute of Public Health and the Population and Reproductive Health Programme (PRHP), with the funding from Bill and Melinda gates Institute of Population and Reproductive Health, was by all account a great success. Professor Obehi Okojie, Micheal Asuzu, and Adesegun Fatusi spearheaded the efforts to successfully convene the meeting, ably supported by Dr. Oluwafunmilayo Ibikunle.
The meeting, which was chaired, by the Professor Micheal C. Asuzu, was declared open by the representative of the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr (Mrs.) Enitan Ademuson (Head, Port Health Services, Federal Ministry of Health). The disciplinary public health groups represented at this meeting were; Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria (APHPN), Association of Medical Officers of Health in Nigeria (AMOHN), Nigeria School Health Education Association (NSHEA), Epidemiological Society of Nigeria (EPISON), Society of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health (SOSEH), Parasitology and Public Health Society of Nigeria, Nigeria Association for Health Educators, Reproductive Health Caucus/Forum of the Federal Ministry of Health (RHC/FMOH), Society for Adolescent and Young People’s Health in Nigeria (SAYPHIN), Professional Association of Public Health Nurses of Nigeria (PAPHNON) and the Institute of Public Health (IPH).
The meeting deliberated extensively on drafting the constitution and the bye-laws of the association, the interim secretariat, and the interim executive committee members. At the end of the deliberations, the Institute of Public Health, Obafemi Awolowo University was given the mandate to serve as the inaugural Secretariat of the association, and a three-person executive was appointed to pilot the affairs of the group in interim capacities. They are:

• Professor Micheal Asuzu, Chairman
• Professor Adesegun Fatusi, Secretary
• Dr. (Mrs) Igbodo Ujiro, Executive Member

The interim executive will officially represent the Nigeria public health community at the 13^th World Congress of Public Health taking place in Ethiopia from 23^rd to 27^th April in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the theme; “Towards Global Equity: Opportunity and Threat”.

Aims and Objectives

1. The advancement of excellence in public health practice.
2. The development of health and allied workers’ capacity towards service delivery.
3. The provision of a platform for networking among public health practitioners on contemporary public health issues.
4. The coordination of public health research for use as a tool for evidence-based policymaking.
5. The provision of collaboration and cooperation among component associations.
6. The provision of assistance to affiliate associations to pursue and achieve the original good objectives of those organizations in a corporate and wholesome manner and in cooperation with all the other positive public health associations.