The contribution of the World Health Organization to a new public health and health promotion

Abstract

The author traces the development of the concept of health promotion from 1980s policies of the World Health Organization. Two approaches that signify the modernization of public health are outlined in detail: the European Health for All targets and the settings approach. Both aim to reorient health policy priorities from a risk factor approach to strategies that address the determinants of health and empower people to participate in improving the health of their communities. These approaches combine classic public health dictums with "new" strategies, some setting explicit goals to integrate public health with general welfare policy. Health for All, health promotion, and population health have contributed to this reorientation in thinking and strategy, but the focus of health policy remains expenditure rather than investment.