Transformative health promotion: what is needed to advance progress?

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Policy
• Global Health

Background:

• Achieving health equity and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) necessitates transformative health promotion actions.
• Current health policies and systems require alignment with health promotion principles and increased investment in core functions.
• The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need to build back better through strengthened health promotion.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically examine the progress and systemic requirements for advancing transformative health promotion.
• To identify key enablers and system requirements for comprehensive and effective health promotion.
• To explore the role of political will, funding, and organizational capacity in implementing health promotion.

Main Methods:

• Critical reflection on the current state of health promotion implementation.
• Examination of essential system-level requirements and enablers for health promotion.
• Analysis of the role of policy, advocacy, workforce, research, and funding.

Main Results:

• Progress in health promotion implementation is variable, with a notable lack of investment in necessary systems.
• Key enablers include effective advocacy, cross-sectoral policy structures, robust implementation systems, workforce capacity, and research investment.
• Mobilizing political will for dedicated funding and building organizational/workforce capacity are critical.

Conclusions:

• Strengthening health promotion systems is essential for achieving health equity and SDGs.
• A multi-pronged approach involving policy, advocacy, capacity building, and sustainable funding is required.
• The International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) is pivotal in supporting global health promotion systems.