In recent years there have been several major outbreaks of infectious diseases in Hong Kong due to deteriorating environmental hygiene, food hygiene and environmental pollution. Aging of the population has resulted in a growing prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases. Changes in behaviour and socio-economic environment have also resulted in many diseases associated with lifestyle such as smoking, substance abuse and obesity. Hong Kong has a long history of medical education and well-established academic institutions for the training of doctors. However, there is still up to now no academic health institution specially designed and built dedicated solely and fully to public health education. A School of Public Health is therefore urgently needed in Hong Kong to provide training and education of public health professionals, to learn new approaches, to discover new solutions and develop new services through research and discovery.