World Federation of Public Health Associations c/o Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
EPIUnit, Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Glob Health Action. 2023 Dec 31;16(1):2183596. doi: 10.1080/16549716.2023.2183596.
Advocacy is one of the core functions of public health and is a key tool for achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Public health associations play a key role in advocating for the development and implementation of strategies to prevent diseases and promote health and well-being.
This study aims to map out the focus of public health advocacy carried out by selected national public health associations over 4 years, between 2018 and 2021, in order to identify gaps and strengths and support associations and professionals in their advocacy efforts.
Twelve national public health associations participated in the study. Official policy documents produced between 2018 and 2021 were collected and analysed. The title and summary of the policy documents were examined line by line and coded into the main subject categories and themes. A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted. Policies were assessed from global and regional perspectives.
A total of 220 policy documents were analysed. Overall, the largest number of policy documents came from high-income countries and dealt with environmental health and communicable diseases, including COVID-19, with, however, important differences among regions. In the African region, public health advocacy focused mainly on strengthening health systems; Europe and South America were mostly concerned with communicable diseases and pandemic management; and North America and the Western Pacific regions focused primarily on climate change. Limited attention was paid to international health and health as a human right in all regions.
Our study showed that, especially in high-income countries, public health associations actively engage in advocacy; however, more effort needs to be devoted to implementing a more international and intersectoral approach at the global level, anchored in health as a human right and aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.
倡导是公共卫生的核心职能之一，也是实现可持续发展目标的关键工具。公共卫生协会在倡导制定和实施预防疾病、促进健康和福祉的战略方面发挥着关键作用。
本研究旨在绘制选定的国家公共卫生协会在 2018 年至 2021 年的 4 年内开展的公共卫生倡导重点，以确定差距和优势，并为协会和专业人员的倡导工作提供支持。
12 个国家公共卫生协会参与了这项研究。收集并分析了 2018 年至 2021 年期间制作的官方政策文件。逐行检查政策文件的标题和摘要，并将其编码为主要主题类别和主题。进行了定性主题分析。从全球和区域角度评估政策。
共分析了 220 份政策文件。总体而言，来自高收入国家的政策文件数量最多，涉及环境卫生和传染病，包括 COVID-19，但各区域之间存在重要差异。在非洲地区，公共卫生倡导主要集中在加强卫生系统；欧洲和南美洲主要关注传染病和大流行病管理；而北美和西太平洋地区主要关注气候变化。所有地区都很少关注国际卫生和健康作为一项人权。
我们的研究表明，特别是在高收入国家，公共卫生协会积极参与倡导；然而，需要在全球层面上做出更多努力，实施更具国际性和跨部门的方法，以健康作为一项人权为基础，并与可持续发展目标保持一致。
