566544 research-article2015
APHXXX10.1177/1010539514566544Asia-Pacific Journal of Public HealthTributes to Professor Walter Patrick
Tributes to Professor Walter Patrick
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 2015, Vol. 27(1) 105–109 © 2015 APJPH Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1010539514566544 aph.sagepub.com
Citation for the posthumous award, the APACPH Medal of Merit to Professor Walter Patrick at the 46th APACPH Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, 2014. Global health is about a concern for humanity —Walter Patrick
This is the 30th anniversary of the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) and Prof Walter Patrick was present since the beginning. In 1983, Walter joined the Faculty of the School of Public Health at the University of Hawaii. When Dean Jerrold Michael called together the Deans of 5 Schools of Public Health in Hawaii to found APACPH in January 1984, Walter was there as one of the executive staff. Since those early days he has rarely missed an APACPH meeting. Walter Patrick graduated from the Colombo Medical Faculty in 1962. He was working for the Ministry of Health as a School Medical Officer in the southern city of Galle when he was awarded a WHO Fellowship to study health promotion and public health at the University of Michigan. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1975 with his MPH degree and commenced work in the Health Education Division. Over the next few years, he developed postgraduate programs in health education that emphasized participation in fieldwork in rural and disadvantaged areas. His emphasis on meaningful field work in education was to become a hallmark of his later career as a public health educator. In 1982, he received his PhD from the University of Michigan and a year later migrated to the United States with his family. He was appointed as an international health specialist in the School of Public Health at the University of Hawaii where he remained until his retirement in 2013. Walter served APACPH in many ways. He became the Secretary-Treasurer and then SecretaryGeneral, a position he held until his death. Since the inception of APACPH, he attended most meetings of the Executive and the General Assembly and Council. He led many APACPH members on accreditation and evaluation missions. These included a field trip evaluation of public health needs following the tsunami in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. One of his gifts was to encourage others in their public health efforts, and he was instrumental in nominating many of our members for APACPH awards. He felt a heavy burden for the health of disadvantaged populations in the Asia-Pacific region and was a true believer in the social determinants of health. Walter provided guidance and friendship for many academics and students in the region. In the University of Hawaii’s tribute to Professor Patrick he was described as Altruism’s passionate advocate.
The best tradition of public health is showing a selfless concern for the well-being of others, an example that Walter set for his students to follow. In several lectures he used the example of the sacrifices made by those who cared for leprosy patients on the outer islands of Hawaii in the 19th century. These early public health missionaries went to care for their leprosy patients
Downloaded from aph.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on June 1, 2015
106
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 27(1)
knowing that they would never be allowed to return to their homes because of the lack of a cure. For him this sacrificial service was the ultimate example of dedication to public health and stemmed from his early catholic education. Walter was a great teacher who inspired many of his students to prepare themselves for service to the community through public health. He encouraged his students and colleagues to continue to learn and to undertake public health research. Just 2 years after the foundation of APACPH the Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health published its first issue in 1986 and Walter was appointed as the editor for Child Survival and his interest in child health and the disadvantaged sections of society is shown in an editorial he wrote, As child survival efforts extend to improving the conditions and context of survival, approaches and strategies need to address critical issues beyond what the medical intervention model prescribes. Commitment, innovation and research to determine new ways to improve and expand health care at affordable cost have to be demonstrated. The challenge is to redouble our efforts and redirect activities to those children and their families at greatest risk.
During the 30-year life of APACPH, the number of child deaths in the world has fallen from 14 million per year to around 6.5 million. Still too many, and to continue to work toward reducing this number would be a fitting tribute to the life of Walter Patrick. His life was an example to us all. He will be remembered for his concern for all of the disadvantaged groups at the core of the public health ethos, the poor, those living in isolated rural areas and those who belong to minority groups. There are many public health workers in the AsiaPacific Region whose lives have been inspired by his example. He will be greatly missed by friends, colleagues, APACPH members, and the wider public health community. Walter, we are all grateful for having known you and will miss your cheery presence at our APACPH Meetings. Colin Binns Curtin University, Perth Western Australia, Australia Wah Yun Low University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The editors’ literary tribute to Professor Walter Patrick A Farewell Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea, Thy tribute wave deliver: No more by thee my steps shall be, For ever and for ever. Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea, A rivulet then a river: Nowhere by thee my steps shall be For ever and for ever. But here will sigh thine alder tree And here thine aspen shiver; And here by thee will hum the bee, For ever and for ever. A thousand suns will stream on thee,
Downloaded from aph.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on June 1, 2015
Tributes to Professor Walter Patrick
107
A thousand moons will quiver; But not by thee my steps shall be, For ever and for ever. —Alfred Lord Tennyson
In Remembrance of Professor Walter Patrick Until now I still cannot believe Professor Walter Patrick has left us forever. I came to know Walter when he took his sabbatical in Taipei in 1994. Before long, with his greeting of “ALOHA,” Walter made friends with many faculty and students, including me, at the College of Public Health, National Taiwan University (see 1994 photo).
Prof Patrick and Chiang, Taipei 1994.
Later I heard a story about how Walter became a student of public health. When Walter was young, he practiced as a plastic surgeon in Sri Lanka. One day a small girl was burnt by a traditional oil lamp and was brought to him for treatment. Walter took care of her carefully, and the girl recovered and returned home. But, several months later, the same girl was taken to Walter again with the same injury. At once Walter realized although a plastic surgeon could make a lot of money, he would be unable to save many individual patients and bring health and happiness to all of his country fellows. This little girl changed Walter’s journey and he decided to go boldly into the field of public health. Being a leader in public health, Walter had great vision. In 2009, when serving as the Chair of the 41st APACPH Conference, I had the opportunity to work closely with Walter while preparing for the 25th anniversary of APACPH (see 2009 photo). I asked him to edit my welcome message. He returned a version, which I would like to call “Walter’s declaration for other 25 years missions of APACPH.” He emphasized the important role of the university in education in public health, general education and professional education, and the “mission impossible” of health, peace, and harmony in the Asia-Pacific region. This was the mission of public health in a region facing increasing social inequalities, environmental degradation, natural and human-made disasters, including tsunamis, all with serious adverse health consequences.
Downloaded from aph.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on June 1, 2015
108
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 27(1)
Profs Chiu, Patrick and Chiang, Taipei 2009.
Importantly, Walter was not only a talker but also a doer. We all know that Walter played an extremely important role in the establishment, growth, and transition of APACPH. In a conversation between 3 of us, Walter, Professor Ken N. Kuo, and myself in the Jakarta International Airport in 2010, Walter learnt that Ken was going to retire soon when he turned 70. He encouraged Ken and suggested that we should all work harder because retirement was not far away (see 2010 photo). Walter worked all his life for his family, his country, and his Asia-Pacific region. Finally, Walter returned to his beloved Sri Lanka after many years of self-imposed exile and he happily saw the peace, health, and harmony of mother country. Walter treated me as his good friend and as his “son.” He took my hand and led me forward on my journey of public health. How could I ever forget? Tung-Liang Chiang National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan
Memories of Walter Patrick I first got to know Walter 14 years ago when I was a young lecturer in the University of Malaya. Even at that time, the vast difference in ages between the 2 of us was apparent but age seemed to matter very little to him. Boundless was his enthusiasm and so single-minded was his devotion to the APACPH cause, he personified APACPH itself, a growing collection of institutions dedicated to public health education. His frequent visits to the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur sparked off a rethinking of the way public health education should be carried out in Malaysia and influenced in no small way the determination of our own department to grow into a school of our own.
Downloaded from aph.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on June 1, 2015
Tributes to Professor Walter Patrick
109
One of the most memorable occasions in APACPH history that affected me directly was the time of the 40th APACPH Conference in 2008. The conference was supposed to be held in Hanoi in collaboration with the WHO. There were some issues with the WHO at that time and the pride of APACPH was at stake, which resulted in the fateful decision to decouple the APACPH Conference from the WHO conference scheduled for Hanoi. The University of Malaya was requested to take over this conference from Hanoi and organize it as a standalone conference in Kuala Lumpur. I was asked to be the organizing chairman for the conference and I must confess I wasn’t sure we could succeed as we had barely 10 weeks to organize everything from scratch. Walter was with us all the way through with his endless encouragement and advice and he worked tirelessly behind the scenes to secure some critically needed sponsorship for us. This was a man who put APACPH above his own needs and who befriended everyone in this vast APACPH family. Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Memories of Professor Walter Patrick Walter Patrick was a friend of many. I knew him as a friendly and approachable person. He made an effort to know people by name and tried never to hurt other people’s feelings. He always smiled and never lost his temper in front of people. As an academician, he contributed ideas, inspiring people to develop and express ideas and to become outcome oriented people. Although we came from different countries and different cultures, he was able to comfort us with his “Aloha” greeting, smile, and sense of humor. The values in him that made him a most memorable person were a passionate commitment to the public health needs of the region and internationally, full integrity in organizing events and an ability to provide technical and moral support. Being the longest serving secretary-general of APACPH, his contribution to the field of public health was enormous. He was a good teacher, mentor, and motivator to many of us. His efforts to bring together experts from different regions to share their experiences in developing public health were commendable and will never be forgotten. Osman Ali Royal College of Medicine Perak, Ipoh, Malaysia.
Memories of Professor Walter Patrick Jay Maddock I didn’t know Walter well until the 39th APACPH meeting in Japan in 2007. I had recently been named director of the Hawaii Public Health program and Walter was so excited to have leadership from the University of Hawaii reengaged in APACPH. At the conference banquet, he took me by the hand and led me around to all of the tables introducing me to all of his friends. In 30 minutes, I met more than 40 Deans of Schools of Public Health. Over the next 6 years, we worked closely together on the secretariat and improving our global health training in Hawaii. Every time an alumnus from Asia comes to visit our school, they ask about Walter. He will be missed. Aloha Walter. Jay Maddock University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii
Downloaded from aph.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on June 1, 2015
APHXXX10.1177/1010539514566544Asia-Pacific Journal of Public HealthTributes to Professor Walter Patrick
Tributes to Professor Walter Patrick
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 2015, Vol. 27(1) 105–109 © 2015 APJPH Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1010539514566544 aph.sagepub.com
Citation for the posthumous award, the APACPH Medal of Merit to Professor Walter Patrick at the 46th APACPH Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, 2014. Global health is about a concern for humanity —Walter Patrick
This is the 30th anniversary of the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) and Prof Walter Patrick was present since the beginning. In 1983, Walter joined the Faculty of the School of Public Health at the University of Hawaii. When Dean Jerrold Michael called together the Deans of 5 Schools of Public Health in Hawaii to found APACPH in January 1984, Walter was there as one of the executive staff. Since those early days he has rarely missed an APACPH meeting. Walter Patrick graduated from the Colombo Medical Faculty in 1962. He was working for the Ministry of Health as a School Medical Officer in the southern city of Galle when he was awarded a WHO Fellowship to study health promotion and public health at the University of Michigan. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1975 with his MPH degree and commenced work in the Health Education Division. Over the next few years, he developed postgraduate programs in health education that emphasized participation in fieldwork in rural and disadvantaged areas. His emphasis on meaningful field work in education was to become a hallmark of his later career as a public health educator. In 1982, he received his PhD from the University of Michigan and a year later migrated to the United States with his family. He was appointed as an international health specialist in the School of Public Health at the University of Hawaii where he remained until his retirement in 2013. Walter served APACPH in many ways. He became the Secretary-Treasurer and then SecretaryGeneral, a position he held until his death. Since the inception of APACPH, he attended most meetings of the Executive and the General Assembly and Council. He led many APACPH members on accreditation and evaluation missions. These included a field trip evaluation of public health needs following the tsunami in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. One of his gifts was to encourage others in their public health efforts, and he was instrumental in nominating many of our members for APACPH awards. He felt a heavy burden for the health of disadvantaged populations in the Asia-Pacific region and was a true believer in the social determinants of health. Walter provided guidance and friendship for many academics and students in the region. In the University of Hawaii’s tribute to Professor Patrick he was described as Altruism’s passionate advocate.
The best tradition of public health is showing a selfless concern for the well-being of others, an example that Walter set for his students to follow. In several lectures he used the example of the sacrifices made by those who cared for leprosy patients on the outer islands of Hawaii in the 19th century. These early public health missionaries went to care for their leprosy patients
Downloaded from aph.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on June 1, 2015
106
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 27(1)
knowing that they would never be allowed to return to their homes because of the lack of a cure. For him this sacrificial service was the ultimate example of dedication to public health and stemmed from his early catholic education. Walter was a great teacher who inspired many of his students to prepare themselves for service to the community through public health. He encouraged his students and colleagues to continue to learn and to undertake public health research. Just 2 years after the foundation of APACPH the Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health published its first issue in 1986 and Walter was appointed as the editor for Child Survival and his interest in child health and the disadvantaged sections of society is shown in an editorial he wrote, As child survival efforts extend to improving the conditions and context of survival, approaches and strategies need to address critical issues beyond what the medical intervention model prescribes. Commitment, innovation and research to determine new ways to improve and expand health care at affordable cost have to be demonstrated. The challenge is to redouble our efforts and redirect activities to those children and their families at greatest risk.
During the 30-year life of APACPH, the number of child deaths in the world has fallen from 14 million per year to around 6.5 million. Still too many, and to continue to work toward reducing this number would be a fitting tribute to the life of Walter Patrick. His life was an example to us all. He will be remembered for his concern for all of the disadvantaged groups at the core of the public health ethos, the poor, those living in isolated rural areas and those who belong to minority groups. There are many public health workers in the AsiaPacific Region whose lives have been inspired by his example. He will be greatly missed by friends, colleagues, APACPH members, and the wider public health community. Walter, we are all grateful for having known you and will miss your cheery presence at our APACPH Meetings. Colin Binns Curtin University, Perth Western Australia, Australia Wah Yun Low University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The editors’ literary tribute to Professor Walter Patrick A Farewell Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea, Thy tribute wave deliver: No more by thee my steps shall be, For ever and for ever. Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea, A rivulet then a river: Nowhere by thee my steps shall be For ever and for ever. But here will sigh thine alder tree And here thine aspen shiver; And here by thee will hum the bee, For ever and for ever. A thousand suns will stream on thee,
Downloaded from aph.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on June 1, 2015
Tributes to Professor Walter Patrick
107
A thousand moons will quiver; But not by thee my steps shall be, For ever and for ever. —Alfred Lord Tennyson
In Remembrance of Professor Walter Patrick Until now I still cannot believe Professor Walter Patrick has left us forever. I came to know Walter when he took his sabbatical in Taipei in 1994. Before long, with his greeting of “ALOHA,” Walter made friends with many faculty and students, including me, at the College of Public Health, National Taiwan University (see 1994 photo).
Prof Patrick and Chiang, Taipei 1994.
Later I heard a story about how Walter became a student of public health. When Walter was young, he practiced as a plastic surgeon in Sri Lanka. One day a small girl was burnt by a traditional oil lamp and was brought to him for treatment. Walter took care of her carefully, and the girl recovered and returned home. But, several months later, the same girl was taken to Walter again with the same injury. At once Walter realized although a plastic surgeon could make a lot of money, he would be unable to save many individual patients and bring health and happiness to all of his country fellows. This little girl changed Walter’s journey and he decided to go boldly into the field of public health. Being a leader in public health, Walter had great vision. In 2009, when serving as the Chair of the 41st APACPH Conference, I had the opportunity to work closely with Walter while preparing for the 25th anniversary of APACPH (see 2009 photo). I asked him to edit my welcome message. He returned a version, which I would like to call “Walter’s declaration for other 25 years missions of APACPH.” He emphasized the important role of the university in education in public health, general education and professional education, and the “mission impossible” of health, peace, and harmony in the Asia-Pacific region. This was the mission of public health in a region facing increasing social inequalities, environmental degradation, natural and human-made disasters, including tsunamis, all with serious adverse health consequences.
Downloaded from aph.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on June 1, 2015
108
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 27(1)
Profs Chiu, Patrick and Chiang, Taipei 2009.
Importantly, Walter was not only a talker but also a doer. We all know that Walter played an extremely important role in the establishment, growth, and transition of APACPH. In a conversation between 3 of us, Walter, Professor Ken N. Kuo, and myself in the Jakarta International Airport in 2010, Walter learnt that Ken was going to retire soon when he turned 70. He encouraged Ken and suggested that we should all work harder because retirement was not far away (see 2010 photo). Walter worked all his life for his family, his country, and his Asia-Pacific region. Finally, Walter returned to his beloved Sri Lanka after many years of self-imposed exile and he happily saw the peace, health, and harmony of mother country. Walter treated me as his good friend and as his “son.” He took my hand and led me forward on my journey of public health. How could I ever forget? Tung-Liang Chiang National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan
Memories of Walter Patrick I first got to know Walter 14 years ago when I was a young lecturer in the University of Malaya. Even at that time, the vast difference in ages between the 2 of us was apparent but age seemed to matter very little to him. Boundless was his enthusiasm and so single-minded was his devotion to the APACPH cause, he personified APACPH itself, a growing collection of institutions dedicated to public health education. His frequent visits to the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur sparked off a rethinking of the way public health education should be carried out in Malaysia and influenced in no small way the determination of our own department to grow into a school of our own.
Downloaded from aph.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on June 1, 2015
Tributes to Professor Walter Patrick
109
One of the most memorable occasions in APACPH history that affected me directly was the time of the 40th APACPH Conference in 2008. The conference was supposed to be held in Hanoi in collaboration with the WHO. There were some issues with the WHO at that time and the pride of APACPH was at stake, which resulted in the fateful decision to decouple the APACPH Conference from the WHO conference scheduled for Hanoi. The University of Malaya was requested to take over this conference from Hanoi and organize it as a standalone conference in Kuala Lumpur. I was asked to be the organizing chairman for the conference and I must confess I wasn’t sure we could succeed as we had barely 10 weeks to organize everything from scratch. Walter was with us all the way through with his endless encouragement and advice and he worked tirelessly behind the scenes to secure some critically needed sponsorship for us. This was a man who put APACPH above his own needs and who befriended everyone in this vast APACPH family. Awang Bulgiba Awang Mahmud University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Memories of Professor Walter Patrick Walter Patrick was a friend of many. I knew him as a friendly and approachable person. He made an effort to know people by name and tried never to hurt other people’s feelings. He always smiled and never lost his temper in front of people. As an academician, he contributed ideas, inspiring people to develop and express ideas and to become outcome oriented people. Although we came from different countries and different cultures, he was able to comfort us with his “Aloha” greeting, smile, and sense of humor. The values in him that made him a most memorable person were a passionate commitment to the public health needs of the region and internationally, full integrity in organizing events and an ability to provide technical and moral support. Being the longest serving secretary-general of APACPH, his contribution to the field of public health was enormous. He was a good teacher, mentor, and motivator to many of us. His efforts to bring together experts from different regions to share their experiences in developing public health were commendable and will never be forgotten. Osman Ali Royal College of Medicine Perak, Ipoh, Malaysia.
Memories of Professor Walter Patrick Jay Maddock I didn’t know Walter well until the 39th APACPH meeting in Japan in 2007. I had recently been named director of the Hawaii Public Health program and Walter was so excited to have leadership from the University of Hawaii reengaged in APACPH. At the conference banquet, he took me by the hand and led me around to all of the tables introducing me to all of his friends. In 30 minutes, I met more than 40 Deans of Schools of Public Health. Over the next 6 years, we worked closely together on the secretariat and improving our global health training in Hawaii. Every time an alumnus from Asia comes to visit our school, they ask about Walter. He will be missed. Aloha Walter. Jay Maddock University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii
Downloaded from aph.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO on June 1, 2015
