SIXTIETH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY Agenda item 12.11
WHA60.24 23 May 2007
Health promotion in a globalized world The Sixtieth World Health Assembly, Recalling resolutions WHA42.44 on health promotion, public information and education for health, WHA51.12 on health promotion, WHA57.16 on health promotion and healthy lifestyles, and the outcomes of the six international conferences on health promotion (Ottawa, 1986; Adelaide, Australia, 1988; Sundsvall, Sweden, 1991; Jakarta, 1997; Mexico City, 2000; Bangkok, 2005); Having considered the report on follow-up to the 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion (Bangkok in 2005),1 which confirms the need to focus on health promotion actions to address the determinants of health; Drawing on the Declaration of Alma-Ata, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, and the Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World which sets out strategic directions for equitable health improvement in the first decades of the twenty-first century; Considering the actions and recommendations set out in the Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World to make the promotion of health central to the global development agenda, a core responsibility for all governments and a key focus of communities, civil society, and the private sector; Noting that health promotion is essential for meeting the targets of the internationally agreed health-related development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, is intimately related to the work of WHO’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and makes an important contribution to realizing the objectives of the Eleventh General Programme of Work; Recognizing that the dramatic changes of the global burden of disease, notably due to noncommunicable diseases, require greater attention, and call for adjustments in society at large and in resource allocation in order to tackle the immediate and underlying determinants of health; Recognizing that health promotion contributes to the achievement of health for all; Confirming the importance of addressing also the wider determinants of health, and of implementing recommendations on, and undertaking action for, health for all,
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Document A60/18.
WHA60.24
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URGES all Member States: (1) to increase, as appropriate, investments in, and to frame sound policies for, health promotion as an essential component of equitable social and economic development; (2) to establish, as appropriate, effective mechanisms for a multisectoral, including interministerial, approach in order to address effectively the social, economic, political and environmental determinants of health throughout the life-course; (3) to support and foster the active engagement in health promotion of communities, civil society, especially people or groups making positive contributions, the public including professional and labour unions, businesses and associations, bodies, especially those involved in public health and health promotion, while avoiding any possible conflict of interest and promoting constructive engagement for mutual benefit; (4) systematically to monitor, evaluate and improve health-promotion policies, programmes, infrastructure and investment, on a regular basis, including consideration of the use of healthimpact assessments, to report results in solving problems related to health promotion and to publicize and use those results in the planning process; (5) to reorient national public health systems towards the promotion and adoption of healthier lifestyles by individuals, families and communities; (6) to introduce into current practices effective, evidence-based health promotion interventions; (7) that have successfully implemented a national public health policy, within which health promotion is the key to modifying the determinants of health, effectively to transfer their expertise to those countries that are still in the implementation phase;
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REQUESTS the Director-General: (1) to strengthen the capacity for health promotion across the Organization in order to provide better support to Member States by advancing knowledge and the active engagement of other appropriate organizations of the United Nations system and international organizations; (2) to provide support to Member States in their continuous efforts to strengthen national health systems with a special focus on the primary health sector, in order to enhance the ability to tackle serious threats to health; (3) to optimize use of existing forums of Member States for multisectoral, including interministerial stakeholders, interested organizations and other bodies, while avoiding any possible conflict of interest, in order to support the development and implementation of health promotion; (4) to encourage the convening of national, subregional, regional and global multisectoral conferences on health promotion on a regular basis; (5) to monitor and evaluate progress, to identify major shortcomings in health promotion globally, and to report on a regular basis and make the reports accessible to the public;
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WHA60.24
(6) to facilitate exchange of information with international nonhealth forums on key aspects of health promotion; (7) to advocate political and socioeconomic policies that impact positively on health;
(8) to report to the Sixty-first World Health Assembly, through the Executive Board, on progress in implementing this resolution.
Eleventh plenary meeting, 23 May 2007 A60/VR/11
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