 |
Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Health Promotion |
Location: WHO > NCD Prevention and Health Promotion > Health Promotion
Background Information about Health Promotion
DEFINITIONS
Health Promotion encompasses the principles that underlie a series of strategies that seek to foster conditions that allow populations to be healthy and to make heathy choices. The range of strategies draws upon multiple fields of thought including anthropology, epidemiology, sociology, psychology and other behavioral sciences, public health, political science, education and communication, to name a few, and their respective methodologies.
The vastness of the field of health promotion, and the multiplicity of actors involved in health promoting activities worldwide, necessitate that WHO continuously strive to focus its activities in the health promotion universe, selectively directing its efforts toward those areas where it can achieve the greatest health impact. Such a focus must be found within the following suggested framework of areas:
1. Conditions, situations or problems that are critical to the health and development of WHO's Member States;
2. Conditions, situations or problems that disproportionately affect the health of populations living in adverse circumstances due to poverty, gender, ethnicity, disability or age;
3. Conditions, situations or problems that can be significantly avoided by targeting the social determinants of health.
The fact that health promotion refers to a collection of strategies that can be applied to many health and development issues also means that these strategies must operate within the context of something else. "Empowerment", "advocacy", "communications", "education", "social mobilization", "community participation", and so on, all buzz-words of health promotion adherents, have little meaning in a vacuum. Nor are these components of health promotion ends in themselves, but means to achieve healthier and fuller lives.
HEALTH PROMOTION BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS
- Fifth Global Conference on Health Promotion (5GCHP) "Health Promotion: Bridging the Equity Gap", Mexico City, 5-9 June 2000.
- Conference Report in English (in pdf, 324KB)
- Conference Report in Spanish (in pdf, size 143KB)- Framework for Countrywide Plans of Action for Health Promotion
- Jakarta Conference - Fourth International Conference on Health Promotion (4ICHP) "New Partners for a New Era - Leading Health Promotion into the 21st Century", Jakarta, Indonesia, 21-25 July 1997.
- Sundsvall Statement on Supportive Environments (in pdf, size 19KB) - Third International Conference on Health Promotion "Supportive Environments for Health", Sundsvall, Sweden, 9-15 June 1991.
- Adelaide Recommendations on Healthy Public Policy (in pdf, size 22KB) - Second International Conference on Health Promotion "Healthy Public Policy", Adelaide, Australia, 5-9 April 1988.
- First International Conference on Health Promotion "The Move Towards a New Public Health", Ottawa, Canada, 17-21 November 1986.
Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (in pdf, size 17KB) - The charter for action to achieve Health for All by the year 2000 and beyond that developed from the conference.
The Health Promotion Logo (in pdf, size 95KB) - A brief explanation of the logo used by WHO since the First International Conference on Health Promotion.
Declaration of Alma-Ata (in pdf, size 12KB): International Conference on Primary Health Care, Alma-Ata, USSR, 6-12 September 1978
SEE ALSO
- WHO Collaborating Centre on Supportive Environments for Health: Health Promotion Declarations
