Abstract
“A commemoration is not a point of arrival: it can only be a pause encouraging constructive reflection and mixing in the same dynamic a future-oriented assessment with a prospective rooted in the past.” (1)
When we celebrate an anniversary, we celebrate a date, that of a birth, a foundation, a marriage, a death. It is indeed an anchor point and a reference in time that refers to a person, an institution, or an event, to the continuity of history, and that brings us together. As far as we are concerned, we are celebrating an institution that matters in a community and in our world.
This year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the creation in Paris, in May 1951, of the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE). This is an exceptional moment to reaffirm our commitment to a more equitable world and to take an optimistic look at the future of health promotion. We celebrate values, principles – mainly social justice and equity, diversity, the power to act on one’s own health and that of one’s community – as well as working in partnership. This brings us together in health promotion and makes us recognize each other in a public health space that is increasingly tangled with more or less consensual concepts, theories, and practices.
We celebrate the unique contribution of health promotion as a response to the challenges of our societies at all levels – local, regional, national, or international – with respect and in the complementarity of the respective roles and missions of the political, academic, and practice circles. Intersectoral work for health and well-being, moreover, seems increasingly relevant in a complex world where health depends on multiple factors.
This edition of Global Health Promotion and the quality of the content of this special issue make a wonderful birthday present to IUHPE, its members, and the readers of its journal. By combining the perspectives of several generations of thinkers, researchers, and practitioners, it conveys the sense of a “family reunion,” that of members and partners close to the history and evolution of the IUHPE, which brings together health promotion leaders and visionaries who have served it well, and representatives of new generations. This special issue offers a reflection on ways to further the advancement of health promotion around the world in terms of research, practice, and public policy development.
As we all know, there is not one single universal conception of health promotion, but a pluralist conception that is part of a history of public health, within local political, cultural, social, and economic conditions and systems. What creates the link between these visions is that there is a consensus on how to approach health as a social enterprise through a set of joint strategic activities to achieve the same goal, including advocacy, education, training, research, legislation, policy coordination, and community development, regardless of the problems to be solved, the populations concerned, and the contexts and life settings.
Another common link is that of targeting the multiple determinants of health and linking health achievements to structural adjustments made through political, economic, environmental, and social change. In this regard, the current discourse on climate change and its impact on people, as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, provide anchors to act on all determinants of health in a coordinated and systemic manner while leaving no one behind. The COVID-19 pandemic we are currently experiencing also highlights the weaknesses of our societies and underscores the importance of systemic approaches to closing gaps to support the health and well-being of all.
We are, therefore, celebrating 70 years of participation and learning, of shared reflection on the role and meaning of health and health promotion in our contemporary societies, of innovation, of trials-and-errors, and of achievements. There is no doubt, however, as to the relevance of health promotion, its approaches, and methods, to meet the challenges of the present and the future.
We celebrate 70 years of collaborations, and of relationships that will survive us through the transmission and dissemination of ideas, knowledge, and experiences. Our complementarity is a guarantee of efficiency in the pursuit of our common objectives. Being part of the IUHPE means being part of an engaged community. Participating in its projects, events, and outreach is to have the privilege of working alongside the best, exchanging with them and learning from them. The IUHPE exists and has assets only through that of its members, and through its diversity of knowledge and practices accumulated over the years. This global community of individuals and institutions is open, inclusive and welcoming new members on an ongoing basis.
This special issue of Global Health Promotion measures progress and also highlights the major issues at stake for health promotion that continue to nurture many debates: the enhancement and the recognition of our domain and field of action; its inclusion in the culture; the complexity of the organization of health promotion within the policy framework and from a systemic perspective; as well as the need for training at all levels, in order to reconcile discourse and actions and to build new generations of qualified, competent, and motivated actors.
May this edition contribute to paving the way for new perspectives and societal projects based on evidence accumulated over the years from all parts of the world!