Carl E. Taylor
Encyclopedia
Carl Ernest Taylor MD
, DrPH, founder of the academic discipline of international health
who dedicated his life to the well-being of the world's marginalized people. He was the founding chair of the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
. He was a key contributor to the Alma Ata Declaration
. He has worked in over 70 countries and having students from more than 100 countries. He was sharing this near century-long perspective with his students up until a week before his death.
. His parents were medical missionaries in the region. He spent his early years assisting his parents with a mobile clinic in the Indian jungles. He came back to US and earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School
. After that he started practicing medicine in Panama where he also met and married his wife. They were together for 58 years until she died in 2001.
In 1947, he returned to India and became the director of Fategarh Presbyterian Hospital. During the separation of Pakistan from India, he led a medical team helping the local people. He came back to Harvard and completed his DrPH and his dissertation was about the relation between nutrition and infection and it is regarded as a seminal work in this field.
consultant in preparing documents in 1978 for the Alma Ata World Conference on Primary Health Care
and was a key contributor to the Alma Ata Declaration
. From 1957 through 1983, he advised WHO on a wide range of international health matters. In 1972, Taylor became the founding chair of the National Council for International Health, now known as the Global Health Council
. He was also the founding chair of the International Health Section of the American Public Health Association
.
, Towson State University, China’s Tongji University
, Peking Union Medical College
and Johns Hopkins University
. In 1993, President Bill Clinton
recognized him for "Sustained work to protect children around the world in especially difficult circumstances and a life-time commitment to community based primary care.”
with special emphasis on community-based approaches until one week before his death. He has inspired and influenced directly or indirectly many successful community-based health intervention like Jamkhed
comprehensive rural development project and many others.
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
, DrPH, founder of the academic discipline of international health
International Health
International health, also called geographic medicine or global health, is a field of health care, usually with a public health emphasis, dealing with health across regional or national boundaries...
who dedicated his life to the well-being of the world's marginalized people. He was the founding chair of the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is part of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
. He was a key contributor to the Alma Ata Declaration
Alma Ata Declaration
The Declaration of Alma-Ata was adopted at the International Conference on Primary Health Care , Almaty , currently in Kazakhstan, 6-12 September 1978. It expressed the need for urgent action by all governments, all health and development workers, and the world community to protect and promote the...
. He has worked in over 70 countries and having students from more than 100 countries. He was sharing this near century-long perspective with his students up until a week before his death.
Early life and education
Taylor was born in the HimalayasHimalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. His parents were medical missionaries in the region. He spent his early years assisting his parents with a mobile clinic in the Indian jungles. He came back to US and earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
. After that he started practicing medicine in Panama where he also met and married his wife. They were together for 58 years until she died in 2001.
In 1947, he returned to India and became the director of Fategarh Presbyterian Hospital. During the separation of Pakistan from India, he led a medical team helping the local people. He came back to Harvard and completed his DrPH and his dissertation was about the relation between nutrition and infection and it is regarded as a seminal work in this field.
Alma-Ata Declaration
Taylor was the primary World Health OrganizationWorld Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
consultant in preparing documents in 1978 for the Alma Ata World Conference on Primary Health Care
Primary health care
Primary health care, often abbreviated as “PHC”, has been defined as "essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost...
and was a key contributor to the Alma Ata Declaration
Alma Ata Declaration
The Declaration of Alma-Ata was adopted at the International Conference on Primary Health Care , Almaty , currently in Kazakhstan, 6-12 September 1978. It expressed the need for urgent action by all governments, all health and development workers, and the world community to protect and promote the...
. From 1957 through 1983, he advised WHO on a wide range of international health matters. In 1972, Taylor became the founding chair of the National Council for International Health, now known as the Global Health Council
Global Health Council
The Global Health Council is a United States-based non-profit networking organizing linking "several hundred health non-governmental organizations around the world to share knowledge and resources, build partnerships and together become stronger advocates for health"...
. He was also the founding chair of the International Health Section of the American Public Health Association
American Public Health Association
The American Public Health Association is Washington, D.C.-based professional organization for public health professionals in the United States. Founded in 1872 by Dr. Stephen Smith, APHA has more than 30,000 members worldwide...
.
Death
After a long fight with prostate cancer, he died February 4, 2010. He was 93 and still active and he had his last lecture on January 27, 2010 in his favorite course: Case Studies in Primary Health Care at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He is survived by his two brothers, John and Gordon, two sisters, Gladys and Margaret, three children, Daniel, Betsy, Henry, and nine grandchildren.Publications
Taylor published more than 190 peer-reviewed journal articles, books, chapters and policy monographs.- Taylor-Ide, Daniel C., and Taylor, Carl E., Just and Lasting Change: When Communities Own Their Futures. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, March, 2002
- Taylor, Carl E., Scaling Up Social Development, LEISA Magazine. October 2001.
- Taylor, Carl E., Ethical Issues Influencing Health for All Beyond the Year 2000, Infectious Disease Clinics on North America. Vol. 9: 223-233, 1995.
- Taylor, Carl E., Surveillance for Equity in Primary Health Care: Policy Implications for the International Experience, International Journal of Epidemiology. Vol. 21: 1043-1049, 1992.
Honors and awards
In addition to his earned degrees, Taylor received honorary degrees from Muskingum CollegeMuskingum College
Muskingum University is a private four-year comprehensive college with a strong liberal arts tradition located in New Concord, Ohio, approximately sixty miles east of the state capital of Columbus. Founded in 1837, Muskingum University is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church , although since the...
, Towson State University, China’s Tongji University
Tongji University
Tongji University , colloquially known as Tongji , located in Shanghai, has more than 30,000 students and 8,000 staff members . It offers degree programs at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels...
, Peking Union Medical College
Peking Union Medical College
Peking Union Medical College is among the most selective medical colleges in the People's Republic of China and is renowned both in its own right and for being connected to one of China's most prestigious institutions of higher learning.-History:...
and Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
. In 1993, President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
recognized him for "Sustained work to protect children around the world in especially difficult circumstances and a life-time commitment to community based primary care.”
Legacy
With an eight-decade long career in international health, he has influenced thousands around the world. His stories of adventure and service enabled them to believe that they too could create just and lasting change. He continued to teach a course at JHSPH on Primary Health CarePrimary health care
Primary health care, often abbreviated as “PHC”, has been defined as "essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost...
with special emphasis on community-based approaches until one week before his death. He has inspired and influenced directly or indirectly many successful community-based health intervention like Jamkhed
Jamkhed
Jamkhed is a census town in Ahmednagar district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated on the Ahmednagar-Beed State Highway, 78 kilometres from Ahmednagar.-Geography:...
comprehensive rural development project and many others.
Videos and Pictures
- Reflecting on community health, the 1978 Alma Ata conference on primary health care, and his students' opportunities to change public health. (3 minutes; from a 2008 interview)
- Interview at Global Health TV: At 2008's International Conference on Global Health, he received the award for lifetime achievement. Prof. Taylor took time out to talk with Global Health TV and reflect on his long career.
- Pictures of Carl Taylor at caringbridge.org
- Pictures of Carl Taylor at globalhealth.org
See also
- Alma Ata DeclarationAlma Ata DeclarationThe Declaration of Alma-Ata was adopted at the International Conference on Primary Health Care , Almaty , currently in Kazakhstan, 6-12 September 1978. It expressed the need for urgent action by all governments, all health and development workers, and the world community to protect and promote the...
- Primary Health CarePrimary health carePrimary health care, often abbreviated as “PHC”, has been defined as "essential health care based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost...
- International healthInternational HealthInternational health, also called geographic medicine or global health, is a field of health care, usually with a public health emphasis, dealing with health across regional or national boundaries...
- Future Generations
- Global HealthGlobal healthGlobal health is the health of populations in a global context and transcends the perspectives and concerns of individual nations. Health problems that transcend national borders or have a global political and economic impact, are often emphasized...
- JamkhedJamkhedJamkhed is a census town in Ahmednagar district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated on the Ahmednagar-Beed State Highway, 78 kilometres from Ahmednagar.-Geography:...
External links
- Faculty page at Johns Hopkins School Public Health
- Biography at Johns Hopkins School Public Health
- Carl E. Taylor, Global Health Legend, Dies
- Carl E. Taylor, The founder of Hopkins' international health program worked to improve medicine in Third World countries
- Information about his illness and tributes by his students and friends
- Facebook page