Best investments for health

514156 2013 PED20410.1177/1757975913514156EditorialS. Jackson Editorial Best investments for health Suzanne Jackson The theme of the 21st IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion held in Pattaya, Thailand in August 2013 was ‘Best Investments for Health.’ It was a lively event with over 1400 abstracts accepted and 2184 participants from 81 countries. In this Editorial, I want to give my perspective on the theme of that conference and what the plenary speakers said about best investments for health. As I look across the plenary talks, four themes emerge. The creation of knowledge, civil society engagement, and political involvement with attention to spirituality are necessary investments to move the mountain of change required to achieve health. One of the biggest messages I heard, linked to political involvement, was the importance of governance tools such as regulations, policies, and taxes. At the broadest level, Dr. Sania Nishtar, from Pakistan, promoted the importance of intersectoral collaboration, stating that governments can only solve some of the problems they face by investing in multisectoral forums to discuss collective action. When Dr. John Frank, from Scotland, talked about investing early in the life cycle to lift everyone out of poverty over the long term, he identified policies and government programs such as universal free access to pre- and peri-natal care; universal high-quality pre-school education; labor market, tax and transfer policies for parents; accessible, free high-quality primary health care; strong economic and marketing controls for tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy foods and gambling; as well as green policies for sustainable and equitable economic development. When Dr. Thaksaphon Thamarangsi of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation spoke, he talked about how the government needs to be able to regulate or control the private sector, and that although organizations like the Thai Health Promotion Foundation act as lubricants by advocating for these regulations, it is government policy that will have the biggest impact. During the conference, hundreds of conference attendees signed a petition to the Thai government in support of their legislation to increase the size of the warnings on cigarette packaging. The second biggest message I heard was linked to civil society engagement—that enabling communities to participate in policy formulation is very important. Ms. Somsook Boonyabancha, from Thailand, talked about the community as the best investment. She argued for investments in building communities, systems of social finance, and support for civil society initiatives no matter how little income the community has. Professor Daniel Weinstock, from Quebec, stressed the importance of public participation, and Dr. Rudolph Knippenberg from the United States stated that families and communities are key to child health. In all cases, these speakers urged the audience to invest in supporting the ability of community members to participate in policy dialogues with each other and with service providers, the private sector, and governments at all levels. The third message was linked to the creation of knowledge. Speakers such as Dr. John Frank used epidemiological data extensively to support his arguments for investing early in the life cycle. Professor Anne Mills, from England, noted the changes in the economic field from evaluating individual health service interventions to evaluating the effectiveness of regulations and taxes. She also pointed to the need for different outcome measures, alternative standards for quality (not only randomized control trials) and better methods for evaluating complex interventions. Dr. Dasho Karma Ura discussed the development and use of the Gross National Happiness Index in Bhutan. The 124 variables in this index are regularly collected in Bhutan and served as an example of using positive health indicators. In addition to the points made by these speakers, there were the hundreds of scientific papers presented at the conference, indicating the extent to which participants were engaged in the creation of new knowledge. Given that we were in Thailand, there were many opportunities to hear papers and workshops on spirituality and health. There is a deep sense of the human spirit and how it can contribute to health through arts-based approaches, meditation, caring for others, and measures like the Happiness Index. This spiritual connection helps us to recognize when people suffer and develop the compassion and empathy to work with others to change the conditions that lead to pain and ill-health. However, Global Health Promotion 1757-9759; 2013; Vol 20(4): 3–4; 514156 Copyright © The Author(s) 2014, Reprints and permissions: http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1757975913514156 http://ghp.sagepub.com Downloaded from ped.sagepub.com by guest on May 28, 2016 4 S. Jackson cultural differences show how much we have to learn from each other yet make it difficult for us to agree on the same kinds of solutions. Key to integrating all of this is Professor Prawase Wasi’s message in the opening plenary that health promotion is the best investment for the future. He talked about the difference it would make if we thought and practiced within a health paradigm rather than an economic paradigm. He then went on to articulate the importance of seeing health as total human and social development and the value of health promotion as a strategy for reform. Although there were so many examples throughout the conference of how health promotion practice is making a difference around the world, we are faced with an ever-increasing complexity of problems. What do we need to change in our health promotion practice to improve health in the 21st century? According to the 21st IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion, our work as health promotion practitioners in engaging civil society, active political involvement, and knowledge creation, and our connection to the human spirit are the best investments. IUHPE – Global Health Promotion Vol. 20, No. 4 2013 Downloaded from ped.sagepub.com by guest on May 28, 2016