1986: Ottawa and onwards
Authors: Thierry Gagné, Josée Lapalme
Journal: The Lancet Public Health (2017)

The Lancet Public Health Editorial 1986–2016: from Ottawa to Vienna (Dec 14, e37)1The Lancet Public Health1986–2016: from Ottawa to Vienna.Lancet Public Health. 2016; 1: e37Summary Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (1) Google Scholar celebrates the 30th anniversary of the 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion2WHOThe Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion.http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/previous/ottawa/en/Date: 1986Google Scholar by looking to the future of health promotion with the publication of the Vienna Declaration, which stemmed from the 9th European Public Health Association conference in November, 2016. The Ottawa Charter is unique in public health history. The charter is often cited as a catalyst for the formal establishment of health promotion as an emerging discipline, and also for having inspired public health policy orientations, government agencies, and research institutions for over two decades. It did so by channeling the excitement, hopes, and wishes of delegates at the 1st Global WHO Conference on Health Promotion into a concise document presenting a comprehensive yet rigorous set of values, strategies, and goals towards promoting health and the methods to achieve it. Many other organisations have used the 30th anniversary to reiterate their support for the Ottawa Charter and health promotion through documents such as the Curitiba Statement,3International Union for Health Promotion and EducationCuritiba Statement on Health Promotion and Equity.http://www.iuhpe.org/images/CONFERENCES/world/2016/CuritibaStatement_EN.pdfDate: 2016Google Scholar (International Union for Health Promotion and Education, March, 2016), the Prince Edward Island Declaration,4Global Forum on Health PromotionPEI Health Promotion Declaration-October 2016.http://globalforumpei-forummondialipe.com/en2016/pei-declaration/Date: 2016Google Scholar (Global Forum on Health Promotion, October, 2016), and the Shanghai Declaration5WHOShanghai Declaration on Promoting Health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/9gchp/shanghai-declaration.pdf?ua=1Date: 2016Google Scholar (WHO Conference on Health Promotion, November, 2016). These documents, however, are not the first attempts to leverage the success of the Ottawa Charter and propel its agenda forward. Previous attempts include the 1997 Jakarta Declaration on Leading Health Promotion into the 21st Century6WHOJakarta Declaration on Leading Health Promotion into the 21st Century.http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/previous/jakarta/declaration/en/index1.htmlDate: 1997Google Scholar and the 2005 Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World,7WHOThe Bangkok Charter for Health Promotion in a Globalized World.http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/6gchp/bangkok_charter/en/Date: Aug 11, 2005Google Scholar which have also driven some of the new ideas of the Vienna and Shanghai Declarations, such as the importance of health literacy, transparency and accountability, globalisation, and the commercial and ecological determinants of health. These documents inform and inspire conference attendees on current global issues; however, they are of little value if there is no plan to champion them afterwards. In an age in which considerable human inequalities are met with fear and hate fostered by political interests, a moral imperative exists to ensure that such efforts are sustained. Therefore, we hope that the actors implicated in the production of these declarations reflect on what is needed so that these documents can ultimately serve as levers for action to promote health for all. We declare no competing interests. 1986–2016: from Ottawa to ViennaNovember, 1986, Ottawa—public health leaders gather at the first international conference on health promotion and agree a Charter, the Ottawa Charter, to achieve Health for All. The Charter recognised that health promotion goes beyond the health sector. Health extends from lifestyle to wellbeing, and so defines prerequisites for health, which include peace, shelter, education, food, income, stable ecosystems, sustainable resources, social justice, and equity. The Ottawa Charter articulated health promotion based on five pillars: healthy public policy (health and equity in all sectors), supporting environments (in face of the changing patterns of life, which impacts on health), community action, personal skills (for people to exercise greater control on their own health), and health services (a reorientation beyond their clinical and curative goals). Full-Text PDF Open Access