Supportive environments for health: The Sundsvall Statement

Abstract

The Sundsvall Conference on supportive environments for health fits into a sequence of events which began with the commitment of the WHO to the goals of Health For All (1977) was followed by the Declaration of Alma Ata on Primary Health Care (1978) and the First International Conference on Health Promotion in industrialized Countries, in Ottawa (1986). Subsequent conferences on Healthy Public Policy in Adelaide (1988) and a Call for Action: Health Promotion in Developing Countries, in Geneva (1989) have further developed the relevance and meaning of health promotion. In parallel with these developments in the health arena, there has been growth in public concern over the threats to the global environment This was clearly expressed by the World Commission on Environment and Development in its report Our Common Future which developed a new understanding of the imperative of sustainable development.