A report of the World Health Organization (WHO) Working Group on the Training of Senior Public Health Administrators is presented. The working group met to review programs for specialized, advanced, and continuing training of senior public health administrators. WHO activities leading up to the working group and WHO's present policy and activities in the field of health services and manpower development are reviewed. The following areas are addressed: main categories and tasks of senior public health administrators, participation of public health officers in high level decision-making processes, and factors determining the managerial policy of senior public health administrators. Aims and objectives of training programs and courses for top-level management personnel, and the flexibility of curricula in response to new types of health services for meeting health needs are covered. Additional topics include international training of public health medical officers, including inservice training possibilities, and problems of international collaboration in this training; and the responsibility of public health administrators for future strategy and tactics in health administrations. A study on training patterns for public health medical officers in 12 western and eastern European countries is appended. (SW)