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Khon Kaen University

Bachelor of Public Health Program

SDG Alignment for Bachelor of Public Health Program

Overall SDG Alignment Evaluation:

The Bachelor of Public Health program is holistically and profoundly aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals by cultivating professionals dedicated to promoting health, preventing disease, and ensuring the well-being of entire populations. The curriculum's philosophy, emphasizing a scientific and social approach to health, community engagement, and policy development, provides a direct and powerful framework for achieving the SDGs. The program is the very embodiment of SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), with its entire focus on epidemiology, health promotion, and the management of health systems. It is a cornerstone for achieving SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) through its strong focus on environmental health and sanitation. Furthermore, the curriculum directly addresses key social goals, including poverty and nutrition (SDG 1, SDG 2), gender equality (SDG 5), and reducing inequalities (SDG 10) by focusing on the health of vulnerable populations. By preparing graduates for a vital public service sector, the program supports SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and is built upon extensive partnerships, embodying the spirit of SDG 17.

SDG Related Course(s)

SDG 1 Icon SDG 1: No Poverty

Alignment Summary: This program addresses the health dimensions of poverty. Poor health can be both a cause and a consequence of poverty. By training professionals in community health and health promotion, the curriculum provides the skills to implement health interventions that can break this cycle, build resilience, and support poverty reduction efforts.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH322101Primary Health CareContributes to poverty reduction by strengthening health systems at the community level, ensuring that all people have access to basic health services which are essential for building resilience (Target 1.4).

SDG 2 Icon SDG 2: Zero Hunger

Alignment Summary: The program directly addresses the goal of ending malnutrition in all its forms. The dedicated course on public health nutrition provides the scientific foundation and practical skills to assess nutritional status, design interventions, and promote healthy diets within communities.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH322103Public Health NutritionDirectly supports the goal of ending malnutrition by focusing on the nutritional needs of populations, food safety, and the development of public health nutrition programs (Target 2.2).

SDG 3 Icon SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

Alignment Summary: This program is the embodiment of SDG 3. Its entire curriculum is designed to produce public health professionals who can ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all. Every course, from epidemiology and disease control to environmental health and health promotion, is focused on preventing disease, promoting health, and strengthening health systems.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH322201EpidemiologyIs a cornerstone of public health, providing the scientific methods to study the distribution and determinants of disease, which is essential for ending epidemics of communicable and non-communicable diseases (Target 3.3 & 3.4).
PH322202Communicable and Non-Communicable Disease ControlDirectly aligns with SDG 3 by focusing on the prevention and control strategies for the world's major health challenges.
PH322102Health PromotionIs fundamental to ensuring healthy lives, as it focuses on empowering people to increase control over and to improve their health (Target 3.4).
PH323301Environmental and Occupational HealthContributes to substantially reducing the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination (Target 3.9).
PH322101Primary Health CareSupports the achievement of universal health coverage by focusing on essential health care services at the community level (Target 3.8).

SDG 4 Icon SDG 4: Quality Education

Alignment Summary: The program is a vehicle for high-quality education in sustainable development. Not only does it provide a rigorous professional education, but its core function is to train health educators who will, in turn, provide the knowledge and skills for people to acquire healthy and sustainable lifestyles.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH322104Health Education and Health BehaviorEnhances education for sustainable development by training professionals to design and implement effective health education programs that promote sustainable lifestyles (Target 4.7).
PH414892Co-operative EducationProvides inclusive and equitable quality education through extensive, supervised practical work experience, ensuring students acquire the technical and vocational skills for employment (Target 4.4).

SDG 5 Icon SDG 5: Gender Equality

Alignment Summary: The program contributes significantly to gender equality by focusing on family health, which includes maternal and reproductive health. By training public health professionals in this area, it supports the goal of ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, a key aspect of empowering women and girls.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH322105Family HealthDirectly supports gender equality by covering topics related to maternal health and family planning, which are essential components of sexual and reproductive health and rights (Target 5.6).

SDG 6 Icon SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

Alignment Summary: This program is central to ensuring access to clean water and sanitation from a public health perspective. The curriculum provides the core knowledge for managing water quality, sanitation systems, and food safety to protect communities from waterborne diseases and ensure a safe environment.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH323302Sanitation and Food SafetyIs fundamental to ensuring access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all (Target 6.2).
PH323301Environmental and Occupational HealthDirectly addresses the need to improve water quality by teaching methods to reduce pollution and protect water-related ecosystems from a public health standpoint (Target 6.3 & 6.6).

SDG 8 Icon SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Alignment Summary: The program contributes to decent work by focusing on occupational health. It prepares professionals to create safe and healthy work environments, which is essential for protecting labor rights and promoting the well-being of the workforce, a key component of a productive economy.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH323301Environmental and Occupational HealthDirectly contributes to decent work by focusing on the protection of labor rights and the promotion of safe and secure working environments for all workers (Target 8.8).

SDG 10 Icon SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

Alignment Summary: A core principle of public health is to reduce health inequalities. This program trains professionals to work with diverse and vulnerable communities, to analyze health disparities, and to design interventions that promote the health and social inclusion of all people.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH322101Primary Health CareDirectly aims to reduce inequality by promoting universal access to essential health-care services, empowering the inclusion of all (Target 10.2).
PH322102Health PromotionContributes to reducing inequality by teaching how to develop health programs that are culturally appropriate and accessible to marginalized populations (Target 10.3).

SDG 11 Icon SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Alignment Summary: This program is essential for making cities and communities safe and sustainable from a health perspective. It directly addresses the management of urban environmental health issues, including sanitation, food safety, and waste management, which are all critical for creating healthy urban environments.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH323302Sanitation and Food SafetyIs fundamental to making cities safe and sustainable by ensuring access to basic services like sanitation and safe food (Target 11.1).
PH323301Environmental and Occupational HealthAims to reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities by addressing issues like air and water quality and waste management (Target 11.6).

SDG 12 Icon SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Alignment Summary: The curriculum contributes to responsible production by focusing on the environmentally sound management of waste from communities and industries. The principles of sanitation and environmental health are key to minimizing the health and environmental impacts of waste generation.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH323302Sanitation and Food SafetyDirectly focuses on achieving the environmentally sound management of wastes through proper sanitation and waste disposal to minimize their adverse impacts (Target 12.4).

SDG 13 Icon SDG 13: Climate Action

Alignment Summary: The program addresses climate action by preparing public health professionals to deal with the health impacts of climate change. This includes strengthening resilience to climate-related health risks, such as heatwaves and the changing patterns of infectious diseases.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH322201EpidemiologyStrengthens resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards by providing the tools to monitor and respond to the health impacts of climate change (Target 13.1).

SDG 16 Icon SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Alignment Summary: The program is essential for building strong public health institutions. It provides the core knowledge of health administration, law, and policy, which are all critical for developing effective, accountable, and inclusive health systems that serve all members of society.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH323401Public Health AdministrationContributes to developing effective, accountable and transparent institutions by teaching the principles of public health management and governance (Target 16.6).
PH323402Public Health Law and EthicsPromotes the rule of law by ensuring that future public health professionals understand and apply the legal and ethical frameworks that govern public health practice (Target 16.3).

SDG 17 Icon SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Alignment Summary: Public health is inherently collaborative. The program's practicum and cooperative education components are powerful examples of multi-stakeholder partnerships, representing a deep and sustained collaboration between the university, government health agencies, and local communities to build capacity and achieve health for all.

Course CodeCourse TitleAlignment Rationale
PH414891Professional PracticeRepresents an effective public-public partnership, building collaborative experience between the university and public health organizations to strengthen the health system (Target 17.17).
PH414892Co-operative EducationEnhances the partnership for sustainable development by deploying students into communities and organizations, which builds domestic capacity in public health (Target 17.9).