Health promotion aims to enable people to improve their health by taking control of their lives and changing behaviors. It addresses the many individual and environmental factors that influence health. Global initiatives like the Ottawa Charter, UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion promote health as a universal right and priority. They emphasize empowering individuals and communities through knowledge, skills, healthy environments, and multi-sector collaboration to achieve well-being for all.

1. TOPIC 4: HEALTH PROMOTION
Recap
By now you know that each individual has a philosophical underpinning that shapes
their knowing, being and doing and that comes from somewhere (Topic 1). You also
know that individuals view the world differently and the way they view the world or
think the world should be influences how they interact with others, perceived others
and are perceived by others (Topic 2). In Topic 3 you learnt that health, health care,
wellness, and illness are viewed differently which makes it difficult to deliver quality
health care and services. You also learned that health is more than just absence of
disease but a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and finding
balance between the various dimensions of wellness. Lastly you learned that there are
factors (determinants) influencing health and health care professionals play a critical
role towards reaching optimal well-being. In Topic 4, we will explore the importance of
health promotion and the role it plays to enable people to take control over their life
and health with the aim to achieve optimal well-being.
A bit of Theory...
What is Health Promotion
Watch the following video https://youtu.be/G2quVLcJVBk
According to the World Health Organization, health promotion is “the process of
enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health” Health
Promotion Glossary, 1998.
Health promotion is about improving health. Health being a state of complete
physical, mental and social wellbeing. Rather than the mere absence of disease.
Good health is not determined by a single factor. Social, environmental and
economic factors can influence health and make it easier, or more difficult to make
changes to your health. Because of this, health promotion tries to improve health, by

2. targeting individuals to change behaviour and addressing a broad spectrum of health
determinants and factors.
To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, an individual or
group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to
change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for
everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing
social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Therefore, health
promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector but goes beyond healthy
lifestyles to well-being.
A brief history of Health Promotion
The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (WHO 1986)
In 1986, the first International Conference on Health Promotion was held in Ottawa.
The conference was held primarily to respond to growing expectations for a new
public health movement around the world. The main goal was "Health For All" by the
year 2000 and beyond. The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion guides all the
health promotion work of the Public Health Care environment.
Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/wat ch?v=G2quVLcJVBk
At the Ottawa conference, the Ottawa Charter were developed. The Ottawa Charter
(1986) brought about a genuine paradigm shift in public health thinking and
implementation. At the core of the charter was
• ADVOCATE to boost the factors which encourage health,
• ENABLE by allowing all people to achieve health equity, and
• MEDIATE through collaboration across all sectors.
It identified five integrated action areas for health promotion namely
• Healthy public policies
(for example: sugar tax, policies prohibiting tobacco and alcohol use)
• Supportive environments,
(for example: playgrounds, sporting facilities)
• Community action,

3. (for example: a babysitting club, neighbourhood clean-up)
• Personal skills,
(for example: information leaflets, public speakers, workshops)
• Re-orienting health services.
(for example: mobile clinic, vaccination service)
The following figure indicates the health promotion action areas in the Ottawa Charter
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)
On 25 September 2015, the 194 countries of the United Nations General Assembly
adopted a bold new vision for the future entitled Transforming our world: the 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 agenda identifies 17 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs also known as the Global Goals) that aim to “ensure that
all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality in a healthy
environment
The SDGs aim to be relevant to all countries – poor, rich and middle-income – to
promote prosperity while protecting the environment and tackling climate change.

4. They have a strong focus on improving equity to meet the needs of women, children
and disadvantaged populations in particular so that “no one is left behind”.
Watch the following video explaining the Agenda for Sustainable Development
https://youtu.be/xVWHuJOmaEk
Website: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-
goals/
Unpacking SGD #33 “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-
being for all at all ages”
Health has a central place in SDG #3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being
for all at all ages”, underpinned by 13 targets that cover a wide spectrum of WHO’s
work. Almost all of the other 16 goals are related to health or their achievement
will contribute to health indirectly.
Watch the following videos explaining SDG#3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN9Gz7rCFo4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qiVBF_7wvY
SDG Tracker: https://sdg-tracker.org/good-health

5. 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion
In November 2016, the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion was held in
Shanghai. The title was ‘Promoting health in the Sustainable Development Goals:
Health for all and all for health’.
At the Shanghai conference, health promotion was positioned at the centre of the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Shanghai Declaration recognizes
health and well-being as essential to achieving sustainable development. It reaffirms
health as a universal right, an essential resource for everyday living, a shared
social goal, and a political priority for all countries.
Watch the following video explaining the 9th Global conference on health promotion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TziPb9jMX8I
The Shanghai Conference revolved around three thematic ‘pillars’ namely
Good governance
Good governance: Strengthening governance and policies to make healthy choices
accessible and affordable to all, and to create sustainable systems that make whole-
of-society collaboration real.
Good governance includes social mobilization. Social mobilization is the process of
bringing together all societal and personal influences to raise awareness of and
demand for health care, assist in the delivery of resources and services, and
cultivate sustainable individual and community involvement.
Influenced in part by the spread of social media and new information technology, civil
society has gained momentum in advocating change on a range of topics, from
climate change to women’s empowerment, from social justice to transparent
governance. The potential to harness the growing power of social mobilization for
health promotion is tremendous. Because health touches the lives of everyone,
everywhere, and since health inequities stem from and contribute to other inequities,
integrating health promotion into various efforts for change can push the SDGs
forward.

6. Healthy cities
Healthy cities: creating greener cities that enable people to live, work and play in
harmony and good health. A Healthy City aims to:
• create a health-supportive environment,
• achieve a good quality of life,
• provide basic sanitation and hygiene needs,
• supply access to health care.
Being a Healthy City depends not only on health infrastructures, but also on a
commitment to improve a city's environs and a willingness to forge the necessary
connections in political, economic, and social arenas.
Health literacy
Health literacy: Increasing knowledge & social skills to help people to make the
healthiest choices and decisions for their families and themselves. Improving health
literacy provides the foundation on which citizens are enabled to play an active role
in improving their own health, engage successfully with community action for health,
and push governments to meet their responsibilities in addressing health and health
equity. By improving people’s access to health information, and their capacity to use
it effectively, health literacy is critical to empowerment.” Health Promotion Glossary,
1998.

7. In summary
In Topic 4, we explored the concept health promotion as a process to improve health
by enabling people to take control of their life, change their behaviour and to improve
their health. There are many factors (also known as determinants) that makes it
difficult for individuals to make changes to their health. For this reason, health
promotion is not only the responsibility of the health sector but the responsibility of
each individual. We looked at three global drives to enhance health promotion namely
the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (UN SDGs) and the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion.
All these efforts reaffirm health as a universal right, an essential resource for everyday
living, a shared social goal, and a political priority for all countries. It is important to
empower people with the knowledge and skills they need to help them make the
healthiest choices and decisions for improvement of their own health, their families
and their community.