Read online: https://www.who.int/europe/news-room/events/item/2026/04/29/default-cale...
and a comment from me below.
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Rebooting health promotion: marking 40 years of the Ottawa Charter in the WHO European Region
29 – 30 April 2026 Virtual dialogue
Today our health is being challenged by intersecting megatrends – from increasing health threats to climate change, demographic shifts, the dominance of digital environments and the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).
Forty years after the Ottawa Charter on Health Promotion reframed global thinking on health – from treating illness to promoting well-being by addressing the conditions that shape health, WHO/Europe is convening a virtual dialogue to reflect on how a health promotion approach can address today’s challenges.
While the core principles of health promotion remain unchanged – advocating for conditions favourable to health, achieving equity and promoting multisectoral action – the contexts and environments in which they must be applied are increasingly complex. Social, political, economic, environmental and digital determinants of health are shaping the conditions in which people live, work and connect – challenging effective disease prevention and the promotion of health and well-being.
Meanwhile countries are facing strained health systems, mounting costs, shrinking budgets and workforce shortages. Progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals and other NCD targets is faltering. Recent WHO estimates indicate that 60% of the 1.8 million annual avoidable deaths caused by NCDs in the WHO European Region could be averted with better prevention.
The core intent of health promotion remains constant. What must evolve are the strategies, partnerships, policies, governance arrangements and tools through which this is realized.
The event will take place online over 2 half-day sessions:
29 April 2026 (10:00–12:30 Central European Summer Time)
30 April 2026 (10:00–12:30 Central European Summer Time)
The event will include high-level panels, discussions with thought leaders and interactive breakout discussion. It is intended for policy-makers, government officials at all levels, public health and health-care professionals, representatives of civil society organizations, researchers, health advocates and international partners.
Discussions will look at how a health promotion approach can address current challenges and will also help to inform the conceptualization of the next WHO European regional strategy on noncommunicable diseases.
Participants will have the opportunity to:
reflect on 40 years of health promotion in the WHO European Region
share experiences and best practices
contribute to shaping future regional priorities for health promotion and NCD prevention
strengthen engagement across sectors.
Registration https://who.zoom.us/meeting/register/q54cMSu1QyuM4qF3mrvI_A#/registration
Participation is free, but registration is required. The event will be held in English with interpretation into Russian available.
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COMMENT (NPW): Improving the availability and use of reliable healthcare information, and protecting people from misinformation, is central to health promotion. How can we 'reboot' health promotion? As an NGO in official relations with WHO, we made the following official statement at the World Health Assembly in 2025: 'We urge WHO to explicitly champion the goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information and convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy for its realisation. We and our partners stand ready to support'. https://www.hifa.org/news/hifa-makes-official-statement-78th-world-healt...
As global health leaders said in 2006 (the year HIFA was launched): 'The Gates Foundation identified fourteen challenges but a fifteenth challenge stares us plainly in the face: The 15th challenge is to ensure that everyone in the world can have access to clean, clear, knowledge — a basic human right, and a public health need as important as access to clean, clear, water, and much more easily achievable.' To our knowledge the Gates Foundation has not responded.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org