RESUMO
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the public health associations to a greater extent thus creating both opportunities and challenges for the public health associations across the world. Therefore, it is imperative to review the existing agendas, vision, mission, and objectives of well-known public health associations across the globe and how COVID-19 might change these agendas in the future. We appraised the existing agendas, vision, mission, scope, objectives, and priorities of public health associations and highlighted how these agendas might change over time following this pandemic. Majority of these associations have changed their style of working, they have adapted and modified their strategies, list of priorities, modes, and means of communication, approaches for collaboration, ways of training and educating professionals, and to greater extent associations have also changed their way of researching with special focus on COVID-19. Public health associations have become prime bodies to spread true information to communities and also to take a leadership role in the research, training, and communication. Although public health associations need to revisit their vision, mission, and priorities by developing some strategies, these associations should not deviate from their goals of promoting wellbeing, preventing diseases and disability, and providing equitable health care to the masses mainly during COVID-19 pandemic. These transitions are relevant for primary care physicians as they can be involved in research in an area that is germane to both public health and clinical practice. They can also practice telemedicine and learn new modalities to provide necessary care to the patients.
