Health promotion an essential component of UHC: IUHPE comments on the Political Declaration on UHC

NEW YORK - Sept. 21, 2019 - PRLog -- THE International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) is pleased to have this opportunity to strongly support the Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage. On behalf of our members, representing high-, middle- and low-income countries globally, we welcome the focus on universal health coverage (UHC) and the reaffirmation of health as a precondition for sustainable development. As reflected in the Declaration, health promotion is an essential component of UHC.

There is an urgent need to move beyond the mere rhetoric of health promotion towards concrete action and strengthening the capacity of countries to implement health promotion at a political and policy level. It is imperative to ensure that the organisational and workforce capacity is put in place to deliver effective health promotion interventions at the national and local level.

The IUHPE argues that reorienting health systems to focus more on health promotion, prevention and primary health care, as advocated in the Ottawa Charter, is the most effective and sustainable way to achieve national health goals and targets, and reduce the escalating burden of preventable diseases and mental ill-health on health care systems and treasuries.

Delivering on UHC and meeting the ambitious targets of the SDGs means moving beyond a focus on curative health care to also embrace health promotion and primary prevention interventions that will address the broader determinants of health and place empowered citizens at the centre of their own health and wellbeing.

The full IUHPE statement on the political declaration is available at https://www.iuhpe.org/images/IUHPE/Advocacy/IUHPE_UHC-Statement_.pdf