-
The Beginning of the Early Public Health Movement
As a result of industrialization and urbanization, overcrowding and poor living conditions existed in some cities that resulted in epidemics of typhoid, cholera, smallpox, and tuberculosis. Consistent with an emerging understanding of the role that a lack of hygiene played in the cause and transmission of diseases, early public health researchers examined the relationship between poor sanitation and disease in cities (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.) -
The General Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain
Authored by Edwin Chadwick, the Report documented the extremely poor living conditions for working people. He found that laborers had an average life expectancy of just 16 years. Chadwick proposed a sewage and waste draining network for disease removal. As a result of his efforts, England passed the Public Health Act (1848) and established national local boards of health (Institute of Medicine, 1988). -
Report of the Massachusetts Sanitary Commission
Written by Lemuel Shattuck, the Report found a relationship between a lack of sanitation in urban areas and negative health outcomes, which was consistent with other studies of cities during this time period (Institute of Medicine, 1988). -
The Emergence of the Medical Model
The Public Health Model, which focused on improving environmental, political, and societal factors related to the health, was eclipsed by the Medical Model, which emphasized individual treatment of those who were ill. The Medical Model was a dominant public health ideology for much of the 20th century (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). -
World Health Organization Constitution
The WHO Constitution is approved at the International Health Conference in New York City (WHO, 2024a). -
First Global Disease Tracking Service
WHO establishes a global disease tracking service, the first of its kind, to monitor diseases around the world (WHO, 2024a). -
Development of the Polio Vaccine
From 1952-1955, Dr. Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine (WHO, 2024a). With the rollout of the vaccine, polio cases declined by 99% (CDC, 2024). -
Adoption of International Health Regulations
The World Health Assembly implemented International Health Regulations (IHRs) to treat the six infectious diseases of cholera, plague, relapsing fever, smallpox, typhus, and yellow fever. In 1983, the IHRs were amended to cover three: cholera, plague, and yellow fever (Pan American Health Organization, n.d..; WHO, 2005). -
A New Perspective on the Health of Canadians
Known colloquially as the Lalonde Report, this publication ushered in The New Public Health Movement. It introduced the Health Field Concept and its four elements of human biology, environment, lifestyle, and health care organization (Lalonde, 1974). A departure from the Medical Model, the report's inclusion of human biology in the concept was criticized for being too narrow and focusing on individual responsibility. (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). -
The McKeown Hypothesis
In his scholarship, Thomas McKeown challenged the Medical Model and its emphasis on individual treatment of illness. He found that the decline in mortality occurred prior to the widespread implementation of immunization and medical interventions and instead was brought about by nonmedical factors including a reduction in family size, better diet, improved economic conditions, and a healthier environment (Colgrove, 2002; Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). -
Global Strategy for Health for All by the Year 2000
An alternate to Lalonde's focus on the individual,
the HFA 2000 report focused on how structural factors affect health (e.g., access to health care, clean water, sanitation, adequate nutrition). The report advances the goal that all people should reach a health level that would make it possible for them to socially and economically productive lives. A major focus was on how social determinants affect health (Timeline of Health Promotion, n.d.; WHO, 1981). -
Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978
In the Declaration, primary health care was identified as critical to achieve the Health for All 2000 goal with greater national investment in health via community participation and foci in equity and prevention rather than military spending (WHO, 2024b). During this time period, the concept of health promotion at the global level was taking shape (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.) -
Eradication of Smallpox
The World Health Assembly announces the eradication of smallpox. The last outbreak of smallpox in the United States occurred in 1948 (CDC, 2017). -
Ottawa Charter of Health Promotion
The Charter defined health as "complete physical, mental and social well-being" (p. 1) and also laid out prerequisites of health (e.g., peace, food, and income), action areas (e.g., "building healthy public policy;" [p. 2.), and strategies (e.g., enable; WHO, 1986). -
First International Conference on Health Promotion
The first international conference on health promotion occurred in Ottawa in 1988. From this meeting, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion was developed, which is a highly influential health promotion document that continues to be utilized today (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). -
Second International Health Promotion Conference
Held in Australia, the focus of the Second International Health Promotion Conference was on health public policy and community involvement (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). -
The Importance of Social Intervention in Britain's Mortality Decline c.1850-1914: a Re-interpretation of the Role of Public Health
In another critique of the Medical Model, Simon Szreter advanced the thesis that the public health-related efforts of government, especially at the local level, were responsible for the decline in mortality in the 19th and 20th centuries (Szreter, 1988). -
A Call for Action: Promoting Health in Developing Countries
Organized by the WHO, the Working Group on Promoting Health in Developing Countries developed guidelines for promoting health in low income countries (e.g., enhancing national capacity to promote health; WHO, 1990). -
Third International Health Promotion Conference
Held in Sweden, the Conference focused on environmental justice, human health, and the relationship between the two (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). -
Dahlgren-Whitehead 'Rainbow Model'
The Dahlgren-Whitehead rainbow model provides a visual depiction of how health is impacted by social determinants including work, education, and housing (Economic and Social Research Council, 2022). -
Jakarta Declaration on Leading Health Promotion into the 21st Century
In addition to advocating for the expansion of collaboration, especially in the private sector, the Jakarta Declaration called for the adoption of the Settings Approach to Health Promotion (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). This approach is a multi-faceted, integrative, holistic model of health promotion which focuses on locations such as schools, places of employment, cities, and hospitals that can impact an individual's health (WHO, 2024c). -
Fourth International Health Promotion Conference
The fourth meeting of the International Promotion Conference was hosted in Indonesia, marking the first time the conference was held in a low income country. The emphasis was on the creation of new collaborations between public and private entities, government and NGOs (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). Efforts led to the Jakarta Declaration, a guiding document on global health promotion. -
United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
In 2000, the MDGs were adopted by the 189 UN Member States and agreed to be achieved by 2015. The Eight MDGS were:- to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger;
- to achieve global primary education;
- to empower women and promote gender equality;
- to reduce child mortality;
- to promote maternal health;
- to fight malaria, HIV/AIDS, and other diseases;
- to promote environmental sustainability; and
- to develop a universal partnership for development (United Nations, 2015)
-
Fifth Global Conference on Health Promotion
Held in Mexico at the turn of the 21st century, the Conference focused on how to convey and articulate the benefits of health promotion to improve health and how to close intra-national and inter-national health equity gaps (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.; WHO, 2024d). -
International Health Regulations Amended
In 2005, IHRs were broadened to include tracking on a variety of public health threats including chemical, biological, and radioactive agents, SARS, and other global health threats (WHO, 2005). -
Sixth Global Health Promotion Conference
Held in Thailand in 2005, the Conference explored the evolving global context of health promotion and produced the Bangkok Charter (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). -
The Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World
As much had changed since the Ottawa Charter (1986), in particular the global context and the technological advancement, the Bangkok Charter advocated for the role of health promotion in addressing health determinants. The Charter called for all levels of government to play a prominent role in health promotion and closing equity gaps (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.; WHO, 2024e). -
Seventh Global Conference on Health Promotion
The Conference was held in Kenya--its first meeting in Africa. The action items included: (1) to meet international health development goals (e.g., child and maternal health promotion); (2) to respond to the health threats of noncommunicable diseases, mental health conditions, and injury--all of which are more pronounced in low and middle income countries; and (3) to address health inequities based on gender, SES, race and ethnicity, education, etc. (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.) -
Eighth Global Conference on Health Promotion
Held in Finland, the Conference reiterated intersectoral action, public policy, health equity, and health as a human right as guiding principles of health promotion, as articulated in the Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care (1978), the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion (1986), and other WHO documents (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.) -
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
All United Nation Member States adopted the Agenda that proposed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; UN, n.d.). Many of the SDGs address the social determinants of health and were based on the prerequisite of health proposed in the Ottawa Charter of 1986 and the Millennium Development Goals. -
Establishment of the WHO Health Emergencies Program
The Health Emergencies Programme was launched to increase preparedness to address global health emergencies (e.g., pandemics) through disease prevention, planning, and management (WHO, 2024f). -
Publication of Global Report on Urban Health: Equitable Healthier Cities for Sustainable Development
Given the projected global increase in people living in cities, health promotion in cities is critical. The Report's major takeaways were a focus on reducing health inequities in cities, addressing the health needs of low-income residents, the meaningful role that cities can play in preventing and treating communicable diseases, recognizing the human and fiscal costs of noncommunicable diseases for urban areas, and addressing the dual challenge of overnutrition and undernutrition (WHO, 2016). -
Ninth Global Conference on Health Promotion
Held in China, the Conference focused on the health promotion of the SDGs (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). The two resulting documents of the Shanghai Declaration on Promoting Health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
and the Shanghai Consensus on Healthy Cities offer health promotion strategies that focus on addressing the social determinants of health via government involvement, health literacy, social mobilization, and urban health (Development of Health Promotion, n.d.). -
Emergence of COVID-19
On December 31, the WHO Country Office in China is made aware of the first coronavirus cases (CDC, 2023). As of August 2024, there were eight hundred million infections worldwide and seven million deaths (WHO, 2024g). -
UN Decade of Healthy Ageing 2021-2030
In the Plan of Action, applicable SDGs are examined to promote healthy ageing (e.g., No Poverty; Zero Hunger; Good Health and Well-Being, etc.) and action areas including challenging perceptions and feelings about age and aging, community support of older people, providing health care responsive to aging individuals, and ensuring access to long-term care (United Nations, 2020). -
Tenth Global Conference on Health Promotion
Held virtually, the Conference focused on how to strengthen societal well-being by focusing on the prioritization of social development and identifying health promotion strategies to achieve the SDGs (WHO, 2024h). -
Achieving Well-Being: A Global Framework for Integrating Well-Being into Public Health Utilizing A Health Promotion Approach
Derived from Indigenous cultural beliefs, the ‘well-being societies’ perspective values the individual and community aspects of life over the life course. The Framework advances six strategies that focus on environmental health, equity in government support systems, universal healthcare coverage, and equity in digital systems (WHO, 2023).