Study objective: To explore the role of history in public health and its relevance to current
practice and professional development. Design: An analysis of the issues surrounding the
poor attention paid to the history of public health by its current practitioners. Setting: The
paper is written from the perspective of practitioners in the UK but has wide applicability.
Main results: The paper makes the case that the current neglect of public health history is to
the detriment of public health practice. Conclusions: There is a strong case for more …

This editorial comments on a paper by Scally and Womack in the same issue. 1 It
announces the establishment of a new journal series on history. It reports the launch of the
Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
It summarises the launch lecture on the importance of history in the assessment of
globalisation. It argues for more involvement of history and historians in the teaching of
public health professionals and for revision of the professional curriculum. There are some …