Description

Healthy public policy lies at the heart of recent
approaches to health promotion and public health development.
It is one of the key action areas of the Ottawa Charter for
Health Promotion. It is reflected in current concerns with
health impact assessment in both the UK and overseas. The
history of health public policy and the lead role taken by
the World Health Organisation were briefly analysed. At the
core of this approach to health promotion lies the linkage
of health with social and economic policies. Yet even 15 years
after the launch of the Ottawa Charter, societies have not
yet been able to relate the health of their populations to
social and economic determinants. The public health skills
needed for capacity building in this area and the dangers
of health remaining the domain of the experts (whether bio-medical
or socio-ecological) thus promoting their own interests. The
importance of advocacy in engaging policy makers, health impact
assessment as a tool to demonstrate the value of healthy public
policy and the investment for Health approach were highlighted
in this paper. Challenges which inhibit progress are identified.
Recommendations were made to strengthen effective healthy
public policy.