Passionate about health promotion: the Health Promotion Forum 10 years on and growing

(Adapted from an article in the Health Promotion Forum newsletter, Issue 40, April 1997, updated February 2009.)

In 1986, the five strands of the Ottawa Charter became the international guiding principles of health promotion practice. In New Zealand these, combined with Te Tiriti of Waitangi, became the foundations on which health promotion practice was to develop.

In 1983 Professor Lawrence Green, regarded as one of the leading lights in health promotion, was brought to New Zealand by the Medical Research Council (MRC) to speak at a series of workshops on the planning and evaluation of health education and health promotion. Health promotion as a profession was evolving ...

On September 16, 170 health professionals from across New Zealand attended the Health Coalition Aotearoa Political e-Forum to hear six of the political parties’ spokespeople discuss their positions on their party’s prevention policies. At that stage several parties had yet to release their health manifestos

Below is a summary of the main questions and concerns raised at the Political e-Forum by participants. These are the key issues and key asks of the political parties ahead of the New Zealand General Election tomorrow (October 17).

General

Will your party act on reducing the supply of tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food outlets in low social-economic communities?

How will your party meet their Treaty obliga...

Now more than ever we are able to put a spotlight on tough topics and hold people accountable so we can create a fairer society for everyone, writes HPF’s new Māori Health Promotion Strategist Mereana Te Pere

When I drive through the streets of Manurewa on the wa...

The response to the monthly online workshops launched by HPF on August 24 to cover topics on Maori, Pacific and general health promotion topics has been overwhelming.

Comments after the workshops ranged from “very informative,” and “Thank you. This webinar is full of specific information and provides me with a wonderful foundation to help me design services for Pasifika” to “beautiful presentation. Unity, balancing life, working together.”

Participants also commented on the timeliness of the workshops and how great it was to learn new ways/ideas.

The workshops are a continuation of a special Covid-19 series of webinars, launched during the full lockdown earlier this year to offer handy tools and guidance.

With HPF’s f...

In the build-up to the election and with obesity in the spotlight over the past week, Professor Boyd Swinburn, one of the world’s leading obesity and food policy experts, has had heaps of airtime.

The Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health in the School of Population Health at Auckland University who chairs the Health Coalition Aotearoa also found time in his busy schedule to answer some questions from Hauora.

Hauora was keen to find out from Prof Swinburn about the progress made by the Coalition since it was launched nearly two years ago, the aims of its 2020 Pr...

HPF caught up with leading global advocate for action on the social determinants of health and health inequalities, Sir Michael Marmot recently to get his views on issues including lessons learned from Covid-19, how it has amplified underlying health inequalities and the need for governments to follow NZ’s lead and put a wellbeing approach at the heart of policy.

The Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London and the Director of The UCL Institute of Health Equity (pictured speaking at the world health promotion conference in Rotorua last year) also touches on the climate crisis and the role of health promoters in helping to tackle these global challenges.

HAUORA: Wha...