Anthony Irvine Adams AM is an Australian public health physician. He was the Australian

Chief Medical Officer Chief medical officer (CMO) is the title used in many countries for the senior government official designated head of medical services, sometimes at the national level. The post is held by a physician who serves to advise and lead a team of medical ...

between 1988 and 1997.

Biography

Early life

Anthony Adams studied medicine at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

graduating in 1959. He undertook postgraduate studies at

Harvard School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard-MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's first ...

obtaining a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree in 1961.Australian Public Health Association website
While in the USA in 1962 he attended the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Miami and was so inspired that he resolved to start a Public Health Association in Australia. He worked at the School of Public Health in Sydney as senior lecturer in 1964.

Career

In Australia at that time there was a

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Public Health Association and a

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Public Health Association plus the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Society for Health but no national body. There was also no academic organization to coordinate public health research in the country. In 1968 he convened a meeting to establish the Australian (later Australian and New Zealand Society) for Research in Community Health and finally formed the Australian Public Health Association. In 1969 he was secretary of both organizations. He made sure that Australia joined the World Federation of Public Health Associations. He was Chief Health Officer in NSW, and

for Australia (1988–1997) and then Professor of Public Health at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

. He led the Australian delegation to the

World Health Assembly The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the forum through which the World Health Organization (WHO) is governed by its 194 member states. It is the world's highest health policy setting body and is composed of health ministers from member states. T ...

and the Western Pacific

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

meetings for many years and in 2010 was still Chair of the Global Commission for the Certification of the Eradication of Poliomyelitis - the largest public health program in history. He is a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Fellow of the

Royal Australasian College of Physicians The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is a not-for-profit professional organisation responsible for training and educating physicians and paediatricians across Australia and New Zealand. The RACP is responsible for training both ...

, a Fellow of the

Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators The Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA) is an accredited specialist medical college comprising medical practitioners with specialist training in management and leadership of health services and systems. Fellows of the col ...

, a Fellow of the Public Health Association of Australia and a Fellow of the American Public Health Association. In 2001 he retired to

Avoca Beach Avoca Beach is a coastal suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney. Avoca Beach is primarily a residential suburb, Avoca Beach is also a popular tourist destination. Avoca Beach is known for its ...

, New South Wales, but is still involved in local public health issues such as getting the benefits of fluoridated water to the last remaining areas in the state.

Honours

He was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours for "service to the community in the field of epidemiology and to the public health, particularly through public health policy development and program delivery". In 2001 he was awarded the Harvard School of Public Health Alumni Award of Merit for a "distinguished service in public health practice". In 2020 he received the Sidney Sax Public Health Medal from the Public Health Association of Australia for his notable contribution to the protection and promotion of public health.Australian Public Health Conference 2020 Accessed 10 February 2021.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Anthony Members of the Order of Australia People from the Australian Capital Territory Australian public health doctors Harvard School of Public Health alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Adelaide Medical School alumni