A new public health agenda for Europe: health under a sustainable development framework

Abstract

Abstract Background As a science and normative framework, sustainable development attempts to comprehend and regulate the interaction between the global economy, society, and environment. The connection between health and sustainable development is widely recognized by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), challenging the way we understand and do public health. In the absence of operationalizing tools, the SDGs would have limited value. Using policy documents (PDs), this study aims to diagram a new public health agenda for sustainable development in the WHO European Region. Methods 32 PDs ranging from 2010 to 2018 were identified and selected using the contents of the 2015-2018 Sessions of the Regional Committee for Europe. Based on the alignment of PDs and health-related SDG targets, a content analysis was used to characterize a new public health agenda. Results Preliminary results show several pathways of bidirectional contribution between heath, the environment, and economy. Closing the health inequity gap demands upstream measures to combat behavioral risk factors using a life-course and gender approach and a mix of cost-effective universal and target interventions. A transformative process of health and health delivery systems to provide people-centered, demand drive interventions are necessary. Addressing the determinants of health requires strong leadership in the health sector and partnerships for policy coherence. Preparedness to human and environmental induced emergencies requires tackling the root causes of climate change and violence and investing in systems and individual's resilience. Conclusions A public health agenda under the SDGs invites stakeholders to re-think policymaking, understanding health as a pattern of relations intertwined with the environment and economy. Moving beyond the treatment of diseases, this agenda calls for upstream interventions to tackle the determinants of health and improve health delivery systems to close the gap on health equity. Key messages The SDGs challenge the way we understand and do public health. A public health agenda for the SDGs conceives health as a shared responsibility across governance levels and policy sectors.