Paul Walker

bmj;390/aug26_3/r1752/FAF1faWaes hael was an Anglo-Saxon greeting meaning be whole or be healthy. From this is derived the modern word health. Paul said that public health has two distinctive characteristics: it deals with prevention rather than cure, and its focus is on populations rather than individuals. It is that to which Paul dedicated his professional life.Born in December 1940 to a father who was a public health specialist and mother who was trained as a nurse, it was perhaps a natural progression that Paul would follow a career in healthcare. He gained a state scholarship from Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Darlington to Downing College, Cambridge, to read natural sciences. He supplemented this with a year of studies in law.He did clinical medicine at University College Hospital in London and after completing his junior posts embarked on his intended career in public health, with posts and further courses in healthcare management…