Robert Beaglehole

Robert Beaglehole (born 1945) is a New Zealand public health physician, epidemiologist, and former director at the World Health Organization (WHO). He is widely recognized for his pioneering work in cardiovascular disease (CVD) epidemiology, the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and global public health policy. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Auckland and has authored numerous scientific papers and books on epidemiology and public health.^[1][2]

Beaglehole was born in New Zealand in 1945. He initially trained in medicine at the University of Otago and later pursued postgraduate education in cardiology at Guy’s Hospital in London. He subsequently earned advanced degrees in epidemiology and public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.^[1][3]

From 1988 to 1999, Beaglehole served as Professor of Community Health at the University of Auckland. His academic work focused on chronic disease prevention, CVD risk factors, and population-based public health strategies.^[4] He helped establish integrated approaches to epidemiological surveillance and intervention, including the development of stroke registries in New Zealand as part of the WHO MONICA project.^[1]

Beaglehole joined the World Health Organization in 2000 and held a series of leadership roles. In 2003, he was invited by then Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook to join the transition team. He later became Director of the Department of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion (2004–2007). During his tenure, he helped lead several landmark initiatives, including:

• Editing the World Health Reports in 2003 and 2004
• Directing the first Lancet Series on chronic diseases (2005)
• Advocating for the Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World (2005)^[1]

He was a proponent of global strategies such as the “25 by 25” goal—to reduce premature NCD mortality by 25% by the year 2025—and worked to establish stronger accountability mechanisms and cost-effective public health interventions worldwide.^[1][5]

Following his return to New Zealand in 2007, Beaglehole continued his international advocacy for NCD prevention, particularly in the western Pacific region. He has been vocal in critiquing the limitations of current global tobacco control strategies and has supported the integration of tobacco harm reduction approaches into public health policy. In 2022, he and his wife and collaborator, Ruth Bonita, called for a reassessment of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, advocating for the inclusion of reduced-risk nicotine delivery products such as e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.^[1][6][7][8] He has also spoken out against excessive sodium in food consumption,^[9][10] he has criticized the ubiquitous availability of junk food,^[11] and he has written and spoken about the negative effects of poverty on diet and health.^[12]

Beaglehole has published over 200 scientific articles and several influential books,^[13] including:

• Basic Epidemiology (World Health Organization, 2006)
• Public Health at the Crossroads (Cambridge University Press, 2004)
• Global Public Health: A New Era (Oxford University Press, 2009)

He is the founding chair of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in New Zealand, which supports the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 goal, and co-directs International Public Health Consultants. He chairs the Lancet NCD Action Group.^[14]

Robert Beaglehole met Australian teacher and fellow public health professional Ruth Bonita in 1966, and they married in 1967. Their professional and personal partnership has been central to their global work on NCDs.^[1] Beaglehole is the son of anthropologist Ernest Beaglehole, the brother of psychologist Jane Ritchie, the brother of physicist David Beaglehole, and the brother of community activist and teacher Ruth Beaglehole.^[15]

• Robert Beaglehole & Ruth Bonita: Transforming Public Health, 5 Feb 2014 via YouTube