Health Promotion: milestones on the road to a global alliance

1. Ottawa,Canada 1986( B.E. 2529)

The First International Conference on Health Promotion held in Ottawa, Canada in 1986,resulted in the Ottawa Charter. "Health is created where people live, love, work and play".

The Ottawa Charter defined health promotion as "the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health" and it identified five priority action areas:

• Build healthy public policy;
• Create supportive environments;
• Strengthen community action;
• Develop personal skills; and
• Reorient health services.

Settings for Health projects have come to have the following elements in common which can be fostered through a series of defined strategies:

• Policy/Strategic objectives;
• Action at both political and technical levels;
• Focus on organizational development and institutional change;
• Building alliances and collaboration between sectors, disciplines and political/executive decision-makers;
• Community involvement and community empowerment.

2. Adelaide ,Australia– 1988(B.E. 2531)

The Conference identified four key priority areas for healthy public policy:

• improving the health of women - the world's primary health promoters;
• food and nutrition - ensuring adequate amounts of healthy food for all;
• tobacco and alcohol - major health hazards that deserve immediate action;
• creating supportive environments - so that health is nurtured and protected.

3. Sundsvall,Sweden – 1991(B.E.2534)

The Sundsvall Conference in 1991 highlighted the essential link between health and the physical environment. Environments are not just the visible structures and services surrounding us but have spiritual, social, cultural, economic, political and ideological dimensions as well. Building on the fact that health promotion addresses broad determinants of health - to create better health, the Conference focused on the six areas of education, food and nutrition, home and neighbourhood, work, transport, and social support and care. Delegates recognized that everyone has a role in making the world more supportive of health. They grouped strategies for environmental change in support of health into seven headings:

• policy development;
• regulation;
• reorientation of organizations;
• advocacy;
• building alliances/creating awareness;
• enabling;
• mobilizing/empowering.

4. Jakarta,Indonesia- 1997(B.E.2540)

The Jakarta Conference was held against the background of major worldwide economic and political changes which had taken place since the three previous International Conferences on Health Promotion (see above). It had three objectives:

• to review and evaluate the impact of health promotion;
• to identify innovative strategies to achieve success in health promotion;
• to facilitate the development of partnerships in health promotion to meet the global health challenges.

5.New Mexico City,Mexico 2000(B.E. 2543)

    Health Promotion :  Bridging the Equity Gap”

6. The 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Thailand ,Bangkok 2005(B.E. 2548)

New: Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion
The 'Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a globalized world' has been agreed to by participants at the 6th Global Conference on Health Promotion held in Thailand from 7-11 August, 2005. It identifies major challenges, actions and commitments needed to address the determinants of health in a globalized world by reaching out to people, groups and organizations that are critical to the achievement of health.