It is argued that each country of South Eastern Europe should have its own school of public health. However, a basic prerequisite of modern public health training is the comprehensiveness of the programme and a worldview approach. Most of the countries of South Eastern Europe face the same difficulties to adapt their inherited communist structures of public health training to Western standards. A regional collaboration would facilitate the process of establishing schools of public health in all countries of the region and support the training of public health professionals at all levels. KEY POINTS: South East Europe includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Moldavia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Slovenia. Public health institutions in South East Europe face similar difficulties to adapt their inherited teaching structures to Western standards. Public health institutions in South East Europe should make a joint effort towards establishing regional training programmes. A regional approach in public health training would enable an efficient use of resources in countries of South East Europe.