Health promotion and health for all.

Caribb Health 2(4):10-1 (2000) PMID 12322459

The recognition that health is intimately related to economic status, education, physical living conditions, culture, history, issues of gender and human rights, the level of peace and safety, and the life people live, is not entirely new. The health sector has been making its way towards this position for a very long time. The literature describes recognition of the connection between living conditions and health status from the early 19th century. To ensure that people live in societies that create health, there is a need to first recognize the following: that there are multiple and diverse forces within society which create or undermine health; and that most of the factors which are essential for a healthy community reside outside the formal health sector. Action to create healthy societies with healthy people then must tap multiple power sources and involve broad collaboration and alliances. The health promotion strategies of the Caribbean Health Promotion Charter and the Ottawa Charter are outlined. Some of these strategies include the establishment of public policies on health, creation of supportive environments, empowerment of communities through community action, promotion of personal health skills, reorientation of health services, and the need to create alliances. The health promotion is an approach, which respects people's rights to healthy living and is based on the recognition that health is the result of an interconnection between all aspects of life. The strategy can best be achieved through full participation of the various sectors, interest groups and communities in a society.