While declaring the creation of the IPHQ, the Government of Balochistan has assigned the following primary mandate and functions to the IPH:

1. To function as a Postgraduate Training Institution in Public Health / Academy of Health Services / Institute of Public Health.
   One of the two primary functions of the IPH is to improve services in the health sector in Balochistan by providing facility for training in the fields of Public Health, with the training programme geared to the local present and future health needs. The training function assigned to the IPH is of an essentially difficult challenge, because of almost an absolute lack of qualified human resource, which is of pivotal importance in ensuring better?trained health manpower at all levels to address the health care needs of the province.
2. To function as a Research Institute of Public Health.
   The second major primary function of the IPH is to conduct Operational and other Health Research and develop models where necessary to improve services in the health sector in Balochistan.
3. To act as a 'Management Support Unit' to the Health Department Balochistan.
   The IPH functions to assist the health department in disposal of official business requiring technical inputs, reviews, and any other complex operational tasks; where the processing of the case from a high level technical angle is required.
4. To develop Training and Services in Family Medicine.
   Family Medicine is the emerging field, which is considered fundamental to ensure a proper General Health Care to the masses. This field aims to develop professional skills of doctors and other health professionals to provide curative as well as preventive medical care for the people at the primary care level for the masses. Being an offshoot of Public Health/ Community Medicine, development of Family Medicine in the province is the responsibility of IPH.
5. To act as a Special Services Unit for the Health sector.
   The IPH is assigned to develop and constantly keep a state of preparedness to assist the Health department in resolving any health amd management problems that may arise. This may be, as requiring sophisticated skills for management and resolution of any health problem, epidemic control, emergency services, to complex issues such as financial or economic handling, or IT and data processing and analysis.
6. To be responsible for Undergraduate (MBBS) Teaching in Community Medicine for students of Bolan Medical College, Quetta.
   Keeping in view the capacity and the positive implications for undergraduate teaching, and the need to provide a platform for training component in Human Resource Development, IPHQ was assigned the responsibility for undergraduate teaching of Community Medicine to the students of Bolan Medical College. In this the Undergraduate Cell of the IPHQ functions as a Department of Community Medicine for Bolan Medical College, and is a part of the Academic Council of Bolan Medical College.

BENEFITS

If the undergraduate functions are performed by the IPHQ the major benefits that accrue rather develop progressively, are:

1. The teachers are more experienced and qualified, and can supervise better that in a Department of Community Medicine.
2. The exposures to ground realities for doctors in the making are immense at an Institute of Public Health, compared to an undergraduate teaching department.
3. The career aspects of the Public Health Physicians is better provided for in an Institute of Public Health, than at an undergraduate department career development opportunities are negligible.
4. The compromise made while searching for faculty for an undergraduate department of community medicine, are not needed in case of an Institute of Public Health performing the same functions.
5. The academic development and skills for the doctors in the making are more community oriented than in case of an undergraduate department.
6. The medical college itself performs better because of the management and training support which is available in the form of an Institute of Public Health, which is other wise not available whatsoever the tall claims, may be.