The Department of Population and Health was created in the 2007/2008 academic year out of the then Population and Family Life Education programme of the Department of Geography and Tourism. The programme started in 1996 with support from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to train personnel in issues of population and development.
The programme (Population and Family Life Education) was reviewed in 2006 as part of the restructuring of the Faculty of Social Sciences. The review led to the emergence of a new department devoted to population science and the social dimensions of health in the Faculty of Social Sciences. The Department intends to expand its academic programmes to include Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Migration and Refugees Studies, which are among the main areas of expertise of academic staff in the Department.
The Department has adopted Yamoransa, which is located in the Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese District of the Central Region, as its Social Laboratory where third year students spend about two weeks each second semester to undertake fieldwork and community activities. The academic staff of the Department are very active in conducting research and the Department has the highest research output in the University.
