SSPH+ Lugano Summer School in Public Health 2024

The SSPH+ Lugano Summer School is jointly organized by SSPH+, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana (SUPSI), and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) in Basel.

The support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is key, enabling professionals from Eastern Europe, Africa, and other emerging and transition economies to participate and share their knowledge and skills required to manage health systems and health service. Other sponsors and supports from across the world also help the summer school reach and include participants from across the globe and make our aim of Mutual Learning for Change a reality.

We will meet online this year and the programme is being developed. We will annouce courses and plenaries as they are confirmed, so stay tuned.

• 1 day courses
• 2 day courses
• 3-day courses
• plenary lectures on hot topics by experts each day
• daily networking activities through online poster sessions, meetings with experts and chat sessions

About the Lugano Summer School 

The Lugano Summer School has a long history.

Since 1991 practitioners and researchers from across western and eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas have come together each summer in Ticino Switzerland to focus on public health policy, economics and management. For many years the school was held in Ascona (on Lake Maggiore). The focus was on public health policy, economics and management, but the courses were taught only in French. Later, courses alternated between French and English each year and more participants from eastern Europe joined the school. Since 2009 the school has made its home in Lugano, on the campus of the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). While the focus has always been – and continues to be – on practitioners, in recent years the audience has widened and we benefit from a mix of both practice and research participants engaging in mutual exchange and learning. All courses are now taught in English.

The Lugano Summer School places health, disease, and health systems thinking under one common framework of coherent concepts and practical implications.  The education obtained and networks created serve as an opportunity to reduce and prevent the gap between public health theory and practice.

The Lugano Summer School is jointly organized by SSPH+, the Institute of Economics (IdEP) at USI Lugano, and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) in Basel.

The support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is key, enabling professionals from Eastern Europe and other emerging and transition economies to participate and share their knowledge and skills required to manage health systems and health service. Approximately 40 competitively awarded scholarships are provided to participants by SDC each year. 

Our Aim  

The Lugano Summer School in Public Health Policy, Economics and Management in Lugano is a training initiative which aims to reduce the gap between public health theory and practice.

The Courses are intended for professionals and managers of health administrations, hospitals and other services and facilities within the health sector, policy-makers and students registered for one of the SSPH+ education programs. The Lugano Summer School is an opportunity to meet new colleagues and peers, to exchange knowledge, build networks, and share insights.