A public health observatory is an organization or program that monitors and reports on the

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

of a particular region or topic in order to inform

health policy Health policy can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society".World Health Organization''Health Policy'' accessed 22 March 2011(archived 5 February 2011) According ...

. Depending on the geographical area or focus of work, it may also be called a "regional health observatory", "urban health observatory", or "national health observatory". In 2016, a study in the ''

European Journal of Public Health The ''European Journal of Public Health'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed public health journal. It was established in 1991 and is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. The editor-in-chief is Pet ...

'' catalogued at least 150 public health observatories worldwide, and that their main functions were reporting on health, performing

data analysis Data analysis is the process of inspecting, Data cleansing, cleansing, Data transformation, transforming, and Data modeling, modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. Da ...

, and supporting

evidence-based Evidence-based practice is the idea that occupational practices ought to be based on scientific evidence. The movement towards evidence-based practices attempts to encourage and, in some instances, require professionals and other decision-makers ...

decision-making. A public health observatory does not generate primary data itself, and instead focuses on synthesizing and collecting existing data.

Environmental health Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural environment, natural and built environment affecting human health. To effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements for a hea ...

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for happiness, enjoyment, amusement, ...

outdoor education Outdoor education is organized learning that takes place in the outdoors, such as during school camping trips. Outdoor education programs sometimes involve residential or quest, journey wilderness-based experiences which engage participants in a v ...

exercise Exercise or workout is physical activity that enhances or maintains fitness and overall health. It is performed for various reasons, including weight loss or maintenance, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardio ...

and other concerns are explored by some public health observatories.

Examples

International

* The

Global Health Observatory The Global Health Observatory (GHO) is a public health observatory established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to share data on global health, including statistics by country and information about specific diseases and health measures. The G ...

, established and operated by the

World Health Organization (WHO) The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

. * Th
Integrated African Health Observatory
also established and operated by the WHO. * The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Brazil

* Th
Observatory of Climate and Health (''Observatório de Clima e Saúde'')
in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

combines the monitoring of public health with monitoring of climate change and its effects.

France

The term is used in French (and has been since at least 1976) to denote any institution that compiles and presents data on a particular subject or for a particular area, generally established so that local or regional policymakers can make decisions with access to interpreted data appropriate to the scope of their geographical area. A survey in 1999 recorded that there were over 500 different observatories at the local, regional, and national levels, focusing on a variety of topics. * Th
National Federation of Regional Health Observatories
''(FNORS - Fédération nationale des observatoires régionaux de la santé)'' has 16 member regional health observatories, or ORS ''(Observatoire regional de santé)''. * The first public health observatory in France, established in 1974, is the Regional Observatory of Health of

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

(''ORS d’Ile-de-France)'' in Paris. It is a member of FNORS. * Th
Regional Observatory of Health
for

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

is a fully independent ORS.

Switzerland

* Th
Swiss Health Observatory (Obsan)
in

Neuchâtel Neuchâtel (, ; ; ) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital (political), capital of the cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Neuchâtel (canton), Neuchâtel on Lake Neuchâtel ...

is a joint project of the Swiss

Federal Department of Home Affairs The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA, , , , ) is a department of the federal administration of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss ministry of the interior. Since 2024, it is headed by Federal Councillor Élisabeth Baume-Schneider. Or ...

and th
Conference of Cantonal Health Directors

United Kingdom

From 1999 until 2013, there was a network of public health observatories in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

until they were absorbed into

Public Health England Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a ...

, which was itself moved into the

UK Health Security Agency The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a government agency responsible for all health security in England, and some reserved public health protection matters across the whole of the United Kingdom. It is an executive agency of the Department ...

in 2021. There are currently operating health observatories i
Wales
an
Scotland
there was at some point one i
Ireland
There are and were also some topic-specific observatories, such as th
Child and Maternal Health Intelligence Network
(ChiMat), still operating as of 2021; th
Injury Observatory for Britain and Ireland (IOBI)
the Mental Health Observatory, and the National Obesity Observatory are all no longer in operation. The London Health Observatory pioneered methods in measuring

social capital Social capital is a concept used in sociology and economics to define networks of relationships which are productive towards advancing the goals of individuals and groups. It involves the effective functioning of social groups through interper ...

and how this affects

healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells ...

and

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

in general.{{Citation needed, date=September 2021

References

Public health