This paper presents a possible framework for designing a public health cadre in the present context, with lessons from health services development of the last six decades. Three major gaps that the public health cadre is meant to bridge have been identified. These are capacities within the system to address the technical requirements (epidemiological and health systems analysis); administrative/managerial dimensions; and the social determinants of health. Therefore, it argues that the cadre must not only have a techno-managerial structure, but also create a specific sub-cadre for the social determinants of health.