In 1998, the Open Society Institute in Russia introduced a new initiative in public health. The program aims to improve the health of the Russian population by promoting community involvement, population based approaches to disease prevention, and data-based decision making. The process of decision-making in the area of PH demands the presence of reliable information and sound analytical skills to utilize information.

In the framework of the program specialists from institutes of higher medical education attended a year-long Masters’ level PH program in Israel. Also, many medical specialists from every region of Russia and other FSU countries attended educational courses in Salzburg in various medical specialties.

In 2004, the first Salzburg Cornell Seminar specially devoted to PH was conducted with the support of Soros Foundation.