In 2011 the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA) was launched by The Association for Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER), European Public Health Association (EUPHA), European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), European Health Management Association (EHMA) and EuroHealthNet. The primary focus was on Master level programmes of public health.
In November 2012 the APHEA programme criteria were revised for the first time and by the end of 2013 APHEA began a two year review of their processes and had opted for the development of systems for course / module / programme / institution levels.
In September 2014 APHEA ratified both a revision of the programme criteria but also the generation of criteria for the validation of curricula and the accreditation of training courses and institutions. In 2017 APHEA adopted Bachelor level Accreditation criteria.
Revised statutes of APHEA were agreed following a meeting of interested parties in October 2019. The principles contained were incorporated into the statutes and internal rules.
In 2020 the European associations responsible for founding APHEA retired at the end of their mandates. Since July 2020 the consortium members consist of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) and the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI).
By the end of 2022, APHEA had accredited 168 courses, programmes and institutes from every WHO region of the world.
Activities
APHEA focuses on accreditation of public health education and training as well as activities designed to help schools and programmes of public health achieve accreditation.
1: Education:
A six year long accreditation based upon an institution's ability to provide a solid structure or foundation for their public health academic, research and service output.
A six year long accreditation of bachelor and master level degrees based upon a "fitness for purpose" approach following a successful Curriculum Validation, a thorough self-evaluation report and a site visit.
Curriculum validation operates both as a stand-alone quality mark for curricula and also as a formal prerequisite to begin the process of programme and institutional accreditation.
A three year accreditation focusing on training and educational events such as Continuous Professional Development (CPD) through to summer schools and conferences.