About the conference
On 13–15 December 2021, WHO will hold the 10th Global Conference on Health Promotion. The virtual conference is organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) with the support of the United Arab Emirates, United Nations agencies and partners.
Climate change, inequities, conflict and stalled mortality trends have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, radical, innovative economic policies, community responses and international cooperation have been accelerated, offering hope for the future. Countries that prioritized social development – health, education, infrastructure, technology and governance – were better able to withstand the socioeconomic fallout from the pandemic. in other words, those that are prepared to put their economies in the service of societal well-being have been better able to mitigate the health, economic and social challenges.
Thus, the pandemic has opened the opportunity to focus on a well-being agenda as the solution to current and future challenges. The change to directly address the fact that many of the challenges the world faces today are rooted in the dominant economic and development models, which focus almost exclusively on increasing economic growth to increase national wealth, which has been used as a proxy for the progress of humanity. Well-being, equity and sustainable development represent a transformative agenda which calls for redesigning economies and policy to deliver societal well-being.
Acknowledging the achievements in health promotion since the first global conference in Ottawa in 1986 and shaping an agenda for well-being, equity and sustainable development represent the continuous commitment of those involved in health promotion to work together in an accountable manner. It is time to shift the focus from merely ensuring the absence of disease towards promoting the health and well-being of people and the planet through policy, programmes, research, practice and stewardship at all levels.
This conference marks the first time that WHO has used well-being as the theme of a major conference. Discussions will focus on the contributions that health promotion can make to well-being in the broad areas of people, the planet and prosperity, culminating in a high-level political statement recommending how governments can use health promotion to advance well-being.
The conference objectives are to:
- Discuss how to extend health promotion to advance well-being and equity, building on evidence and experience, to foster healthier populations.
- Identify realistic interventions for health promotion and well-being to accelerate progress in achieving the SDGs.
- Emphasize the role of health promotion in public health emergency preparedness and response, and seize opportunities to build healthier, fairer societies.
- Explore innovative health promotion approaches to enable societies and communities to flourish.
Register here: https://10gchp.org/
Additional information on the conference here: https://www.who.int/teams/health-promotion/10th-global-conference-on-health-promotion