About Department of Community Health & Primary Care
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The Department of Community Health & Primary Care
The department was established in 1962 at the inception of the College of Medicine. Professor R.D Wright (from John Hopkins University, Baltimore USA) was the founding Head of the Department of Community Health. Though the Department was originally known as the Department of Community Health, its name changed to the Department of Community Health & Primary Care when the Institute of Child Health was merged with the Department.
The department currently has 22 academic staff and operates in 6 units.
Teaching programmes: The Department runs courses for both Undergraduate and Postgraduates students across several department in the college of Medicine.
The first Postgraduate Master’s Degree in Public Health (MPH) in West Africa was initiated in the department in 1980. The department initiated another postgraduate degree programme, the Master of Science in Public Health (MScPH) degree in 2006/2007session. With about 200 postgraduate students in different departmental programmes annually, this is the largest postgraduate training Department in the College of Medicine. The Department has obtained Senate approval to commence programmes to train PhD students. The department also trains resident doctors preparing for both the National and West African Postgraduate Medical Colleges.
Research : There are several publications by academic staff in learned/scientific journals. Research published by members of staff from the Department have contributed significantly to healthcare services in Nigeria and globally. With its large postgraduate training programmes, it is not surprising that over 1,000 research-based dissertations have been produced by trainees.
Service : The Department runs child welfare clinics, nutrition clinic, well woman clinic, family planning clinic, endemic diseases clinics; geriatrics clinics and tuberculosis control (DOTS)clinics within the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. The Department ran the LUTH Primary Health Centre at Pakoto, Ogun State till 2015 and has been collaborating with other departments offering community-oriented health services. The Department continues to collaborate with several Local Government Health Departments including Mushin LGA and had in the past ran Geriatric clinics at the Gbaja Health Centre (Surulere LGA) and Child Welfare clinics at the Iwaya Health Centre (Lagos Mainland LGA). The Department has been very active during disease outbreaks and pandemics. During the Ebola outbreak of 2014, the Department provided public health Specialists who assisted in contact tracing and training in infection prevention and control and provided leadership for the Social Communication and Mobilization Pillar of the National Response. During the more recent COVID-19 pandemic, staff from the
Our Vision
To be a foremost University Department of Community Health & Primary Care in a tertiary hospital, aspiring to achieve national and international reputation for excellence in teaching, research and patient care.
Our Mission
To provide comprehensive and globally relevant undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in surgery.
To facilitate the performance of research projects especially those that improve the outcome of surgery.
To provide the highest quality of care for patients with surgical disorders in a tertiary health institution.
Welcome to Department of Community Health & Primary Care
The Department of Community Health and Primary Care has a unique mission to be the foremost training institution producing leaders in public health for the country through the use of innovative methods and technology, driven by a highly motivated faculty.
The main strategies of the department in achieving our mission are the pursuit of excellence in research, postgraduate teaching, advanced training, service delivery and consultancy in Public Health
Prof Kofoworola Odeyemi
Head of Department (HOD)
