WHO HEALTHY CITIES NETWORK
“What is Healthy Cities Project?”
It is a long-term development project, which is aiming to improve the physical, psychological and environmental aspects of the Citizens who live and work in a city. Healthy Cities Project starts out from asking what a city is and what should a health city be.
- According to the approach; “city” is a complex organism that lives, breathes, grows and has interior dynamic that changes continuously.
- Health City is a city that can develop its environment and sources.
- The concept of Healthy City is not only a result, but also a method.
- Healthy City is not only a city that has reached the certain level of health city, it is also a city that has health conscious and efforts to develop it. Indeed any city can be a healthy city without paying attention to its current health status; all the needs are to have a structure and operation for achieving and to make a certain decision for health.
The advantages of taking a part in WHO Healthy Cities Project are;
- Being a part of international activities and raising the awareness of public health
- Taking a part in the works for "Health For Everyone" in accordance with Millennium 21 principles and applications
- Creating an international platform where efficient applications will be developed
- Providing the necessary power such as European funding for partnership projects
- Being a sample for other cities in Turkey with the works carried out in Bursa and assisting the development of Healthy Cities Partnerships
- Establishing a network on health problems with other member cities in order to share information and application experiences
- Reaching research and development works about social effects of health and its unfair distributions on health.
- Developing a working environment based on participation and democratic values within the city.
“Healthy Cities Network”
Urban health is a gradually important and interesting scope for World Health Organization (WHO) European Region. Many studies and reports emphasized the growing challenges related with health such as poverty, violence, social exclusion, pollution, housing under standard, needs of young and middle aged people that cannot be covered, homeless people and immigrants, unhealthy settlement planning, the need of focusing to the lack of participative works, inequality and sustainable development. Healthy Cities Project in European Region indicates the value of holistic approach. This is an efficient and popular mechanism in order to develop policies and programmes related with health for everybody by way of a clear politic commitment, institutional changing and partnership between sectors, innovative activities aiming all points of life conditions, process includes intensive connections in local level between Europe and across.
Over 1000 cities and towns from more than 30 countries from WHO European Region have been called as healthy city. These are connected with national, regional, metropolitan and thematic healthy cities as well as Healthy Cities Network for the healthy cities that are in forward stages. These participating cities of the network improve and implement a broad spectrum of products including city health profiles and city health plans and strategies and Agenda 21, based on collaboration between sectors and social development initiatives and programmes addressing the needs, living styles and environmental health of vulnerable groups.
WHO Healthy Cities Network represents a key construction in order to develop responsibility and innovation and a source of valuable expertise, legality and continuing learning. National networks and thematic/ad hoc networks that are in national and international level are developing with dynamic cooperation and innovation beyond all conventional politic, professional, regional and sectoral boundaries.
Background of Healthy Cities Network
World Health Organization (WHO) Healthy Cities Project is a long-term international development initiative that aims to locate health to the foreground of the agenda of the stakeholders in Europe, and to develop comprehensive local strategies towards principles and objectives of Health for everybody in 21 st century and Local Agenda 21 for health and sustainable development. In the end Healthy Cities approach endeavors to enhance physical, social and environmental prosperity of people living and working in the city.
3 rd PHASE of the project has been completed and 4 th PHASE of the project (2003-2007) has been going on. Every 5-year focus to specific objectives and outcomes applied by the networks of inspiring project cities. These cities were designated to WHO Healthy Cities Network by WHO with following an official application process. In every 5-year and at the beginning of each phase, a new network has been established and the previous one has been abolished.
PHASE I (1987-1992), involved 35 cities in WHO project cities. The differences were about creating new constructions that undertake the task of changing representatives and introducing to new ways to work for health in the city.
PHASE II (1993-1997), involved 39 cities including 13 cities that haven't joined in any network before. This stage was towards to more actions with strong stress about healthy community policy and comprehensive city health planning. Athens Conference in June 2000 showed that PHASE II had finished and PHASE III had started.
PHASE III (1998-2002) involved almost 50 cities with the applicant cities. Objectives on which there was an agreement for health development with the focus of holistic planning are equality, sustainable development and social development. Cities were anticipated to be systematic on monitoring and evaluation approaches.
After last years Healthy Cities has built a broad and enduring structure. WHO and participating countries and national networks developed and implemented a broad spectrum of programme and products based on cooperation between sectors and social development initiative addressing the needs, life styles and environmental health of vulnerable groups.
PHASE IV comprises the year of 2003-2007.
WHAT IS HEALTHY CITY?
" Core Themes of PHASE IV"
- Health Impact Assessment
- Healthy Ageing
- Healthy Urban Planning
Designated cities are responsible to work, produce projects and share their experiences in these subjects.
In order to be a member of International Healthy Cities Network, it is required to cover the criterias that WHO refers to.
These are:
- Politic Commitment
- Healthy Cities Project Office
- City Health Profile
- Healthy City Parameters
- City Health Development Plan
POLITIC COMMITMENT
Initially, the Major should send a letter to World Health Organization including his intention for being a member of this project and guarantee his political support to this project.
- A decision of Council of Municipality should be made that commit to be a member of International Healthy Cities Network, to pay membership fee every year and to designate a project coordinator.
- The commitments of decision makers about health in the city should be taken. These decision makers can be;
• Governorship,
• Directorate of City Health,
• Directorate of City Environment,
• University,
• Municipalities in the districts,
• Local Agenda 21 and
• Other NGOs in accordance with the quality of the city.
WHAT IS CITY HEALTH PROFILE?
Health profile for a city is qualitative and quantitative expression of health and factors that affect people's health. It identifies the problems and encourages the activities. It is aimed to provide correct, actual, detached, independent information about the life of people living in the city.
Objectives
A city profile should;
- Summarize health information about the city
- Define health subjects in the city
- Define the subjects affect health in the city
- Define the activity areas that is suggested for developing health
- Determine the targets that will be gained about health
- Inform society, politicians, professionals and decision makers in an easy way about the subjects affect health
- Include the local community's opinion about health subjects
There is no definition relating a city health profile. Every city will prepare its own profile with in accordance with its structure. All the profile should include basic informations and vital statistics related to population.
Other areas the could be included:
- Health statement
- Life styles
- Life conditions
- Socio-economic conditions
- Physical environment
- Inequalities
- Physical and social substructure
- Public health services and policies
Healthy City Parameters are the measures of health and the factors affect health. These could be a basic for comparisons between cities.
WHAT IS CITY HEALTH DEVELOPMENT PLAN?
- City Health Development Plan is a key for developing health.
- Producing City Health Plan manifests a city's health vision and steps that city aims in order to get it.
- City Health Development Plan adapts World Health Organization's strategy called “Health for Everyone” to the local statement.
- The most two important points of the plan are being comprehensive and intersectoral.
- It integrates all health activities and the relevant activities and makes connections between sectors.
- The plan produces via intersectoral cooperation and community's participation.