Health promotion: The process of enabling people to increase control over health
Health promotion: Empowering people to control and improve their health
Rosa lived in a low-income neighborhood in Bogota where diabetes rates were three times the city average. Her mother had diabetes. Her sister had diabetes. Rosa seemed destined for the same fate. But then something changed in her community.
The local health center didn’t just wait for people to get sick—they started teaching residents about nutrition, organizing walking groups, creating community gardens, and working with corner stores to stock healthier foods. They lobbied the city council to build sidewalks and bike lanes. They trained community members like Rosa to become health promoters who could teach their neighbors.
Rosa joined a walking group, learned to cook nutritious meals on a tight budget, and eventually became a certified health promoter herself. Five years later, her blood sugar remains normal. She’s helped dozens of neighbors prevent diabetes. “Before, I felt powerless against disease. Now I understand that health isn’t just about doctors and pills—it’s about having the knowledge, resources, and environment to make healthy choices every day.”
This is health promotion in action. According to WHO’s Health Promotion Glossary from 1998, “Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health.”
WHO’s Q&A on what is health promotion? explains these foundational concepts. For more on community health strategies, see our articles on preventive health and public health initiatives at ObserverVoice.com.
The Ottawa Charter: Foundation of Modern Health Promotion
The first International Conference on Health Promotion was held in Ottawa in 1986, and was primarily a response to growing expectations for a new public health movement around the world. It launched a series of actions among international organizations, national governments and local communities to achieve the goal of “Health For All” by the year 2000 and beyond.
The basic strategies for health promotion identified in the Ottawa Charter were: advocate (to boost the factors which encourage health), enable (allowing all people to achieve health equity) and mediate (through collaboration across all sectors).
Since then, WHO Global Health Promotion Conferences have established and developed global principles and action areas. Most recently, the 9th global conference (Shanghai 2016), titled ‘Promoting health in the Sustainable Development Goals: Health for all and all for health’, highlighted critical links between promoting health and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Shanghai Declaration provides a framework through which governments can utilize the transformational potential of health promotion.
WHO passed multiple resolutions supporting health promotion: WHA75.19 on well-being and health promotion, WHA 67.12 on contributing to social and economic development through sustainable action across sectors, and WHA 62.14 on reducing health inequities through action on social determinants of health.
WHO’s Strategy: Promoting Healthier Populations
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provides a bold and ambitious agenda for the future. WHO is committed to helping the world meet the SDGs by championing health across all the goals. WHO’s core mission is to promote health, alongside keeping the world safe and serving the vulnerable. Beyond fighting disease, WHO works to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, leaving no-one behind.
WHO’s target is 1 billion more people enjoying better health and well-being by 2023. WHO’s Health Promotion team coordinates comprehensive global work.
For more on global health goals, see our article on sustainable development at ObserverVoice.com.
Four Critical Focus Areas
Health promotion focuses on four interconnected areas:
Good Governance means strengthening governance and policies to make healthy choices accessible and affordable to all, and create sustainable systems that make whole-of-society collaboration real. This approach recognizes that health is determined by multiple factors outside the direct control of the health sector (such as education, income, and individual living conditions) and that decisions made in other sectors can affect the health of individuals and shape patterns of disease distribution and mortality.
WHO’s activity on promoting health through good governance drives implementation globally.
Health Literacy is critical because improving health literacy in populations provides the foundation on which citizens are enabled to play an active role in improving their own health, engage successfully with community action for health, and push governments to meet their responsibilities in addressing health and health equity.
WHO’s fact sheet on health literacy explains these connections. WHO’s activity on improving health literacy supports countries worldwide.
Healthy Settings approach has roots in the WHO Health for All strategy and, more specifically, the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. Healthy Settings key principles include community participation, partnership, empowerment and equity. The Healthy Cities programme is the best-known example of a successful Healthy Settings programme.
WHO’s activity on creating healthy cities advances urban health globally. WHO’s Initiative on urban governance for health and well-being coordinates comprehensive city-level work.
Social Mobilization means bringing together all societal and personal influences to raise awareness of and demand for health care, assist in the delivery of resources and services, and cultivate sustainable individual and community involvement.
Recent WHO Initiatives and Publications
November 2025 WHO published multiple city spotlights from the WHO Initiative on Urban Governance for Health and Well-being, including Douala, Cameroon, Pasig, Philippines, and Khulna, Bangladesh, summarizing progress from Phase 1 (2020–2024).
August 2025 WHO called for parliamentary leadership on health at Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament. June 2025 WHO launched new Collaborating Centre on Alcohol Policy and Public Health Research. April 2025 WHO marked worldwide rally for maternal and newborn health for World Health Day 2025.
WHO featured empowering community leadership through disability inclusion in Bogota’s Kennedy locality, fighting dengue through community engagement in Khulna City, Bangladesh, and transformative power of community action improving access to safe drinking water in Douala, Cameroon.
WHO’s activity on promoting well-being coordinates comprehensive work. Related health topics include adolescent health, child health, nutrition, tobacco, ageing, health promoting schools, and physical activity.
WHO created infographics including Health is everywhere, WHO Manifesto: Build healthy, liveable cities, and WHO Manifesto: Ensure Access to Clean Water.
Rosa’s neighborhood transformation demonstrates health promotion’s power. “We didn’t wait for government to fix everything. We learned, organized, advocated, and took action ourselves. Health promotion gave us tools to change our own destiny. Now diabetes isn’t inevitable here—it’s preventable. That’s what happens when people gain control over their health.”
For more information, visit WHO’s health promotion topic page or explore related content at ObserverVoice.com.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
According to WHO’s Health Promotion Glossary (1998), health promotion is “the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health.” The first International Conference on Health Promotion was held in Ottawa in 1986, establishing basic strategies: advocate (boost factors encouraging health), enable (allow all people to achieve health equity), and mediate (collaborate across all sectors). WHO’s 9th global conference (Shanghai 2016) highlighted critical links between promoting health and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. WHO’s Q&A on what is health promotion? explains foundational concepts.
Health promotion focuses on four areas: (1) Good Governance – strengthening governance and policies to make healthy choices accessible and affordable; (2) Health Literacy – improving health literacy so citizens can play active roles in improving their own health, engage in community action, and push governments to address health equity; (3) Healthy Settings – using community participation, partnership, empowerment and equity principles (Healthy Cities programme is best-known example); (4) Social Mobilization – bringing together societal influences to raise awareness, assist in delivering resources, and cultivate sustainable involvement. WHO activities include promoting health through good governance and improving health literacy.
WHO’s target is 1 billion more people enjoying better health and well-being by 2023. WHO is committed to helping the world meet Sustainable Development Goals by championing health across all goals. WHO’s core mission is to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Beyond fighting disease, WHO works to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, leaving no-one behind. WHO passed resolutions including WHA75.9 on well-being and health promotion. WHO’s Health Promotion team coordinates comprehensive work.
The Healthy Cities programme is the best-known example of a successful Healthy Settings programme. Healthy Settings approach has roots in WHO Health for All strategy and Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. Key principles include community participation, partnership, empowerment and equity. WHO’s activity on creating healthy cities advances urban health globally. WHO’s Initiative on urban governance for health and well-being coordinates comprehensive city-level work. November 2025 WHO published city spotlights from Douala, Cameroon, Pasig, Philippines, and Khulna, Bangladesh.
August 2025 WHO called for parliamentary leadership on health. June 2025 WHO launched new Collaborating Centre on Alcohol Policy and Public Health Research. April 2025 WHO marked worldwide rally for maternal and newborn health for World Health Day 2025. WHO featured community leadership in Bogota, dengue control in Khulna. WHO’s activity on promoting well-being coordinates work.
- WHO Health Promotion Topic Page
- Q&A: What is Health Promotion?
- WHO Initiative on Urban Governance for Health and Well-being
- Health Literacy Fact Sheet
- WHO Health Promotion Team
Disclaimer: This article is an adaptation of publicly available information from WHO’s Health promotion
health topic page (WHO, Geneva. Licence: CC BYNC-SA 3.0 IGO). WHO is not responsible for the
content or accuracy of this adaptation. This content is for informational and educational purposes
only and does not constitute medical advice. ObserverVoice.com is a news and information platform
— not a healthcare provider.
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