Cardiff Healthy City
- » Introduction
- » What is a Healthy City?
- » What is the WHO Healthy City Network?
- » Healthy City Programme - Phase 5 (2009-13)
- » Cardiff Healthy City Programme
- » Cardiff Healthy City - a genuine priority in Cardiff
- » WHO European Healthy Cities Network
- » UK Healthy Cities Network
- » UK Healthy Cities
- » World Health Organisation - WHO?
- » Health Statistics
Introduction
In 2009 Cardiff became the first Welsh city to be awarded World Health Organization (WHO) Healthy City status, joining only 13 other cities in the United Kingdom.
Achievement of the award is seen as an important step in ensuring Cardiff continues to develop as one of the best places to live in the country and provides a real opportunity for a range of agencies working across the city to improve the health and well being of local people and reduce health inequities.
What is a Healthy City?
A healthy city is one that is continually creating and improving the physical and social environments and expanding community resources, which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and developing to their maximum potential.
A Healthy City aims to:
- to create a health-supportive environment,
- to achieve a good quality of life,
- to supply access to health care.
Becoming a Healthy City does not mean that Cardiff has achieved a particular health status, rather that it is conscious of health and is strongly committed to improve it.
What might a Healthy City look like?
What is the WHO Healthy City Network?
The WHO Healthy Cities Network is a global movement. It engages local governments in health development through a process of political commitment, institutional change, capacity-building, partnership-based planning and innovative projects. Health is the business of all sectors, and local governments are in a unique leadership position, with power to protect and promote their citizens' health and well being.
The Healthy Cities movement promotes comprehensive and systematic policy and planning for health and emphasizes:
- the need to address inequality in health and urban poverty
- the needs of vulnerable groups
- participatory governance, and
- the social, economic and environmental determinants of health.
This is not about the health sector only. The Healthy City approach recognises the impact on health and well being that areas such as social, economic, regeneration and urban development have.
Healthy City Programme - Phase 5 (2009-13)
The WHO Healthy City programme is developed in five-year phases. Cardiff joined the programme in Phase 5, for which the overarching theme is "health and health equity in all local policy," which will be achieved by working to the following core themes:
- Healthy Living
- Caring and Supportive Environments
- Healthy Urban Design
Cardiff Healthy City Programme
A model for Cardiff Healthy City has been developed. This model recognises the complex and related issues that affect people's health and well being. An initial programme has been developed and this will evolve over the course of the five year period.
More information on the Cardiff Healthy City Programme.
Cardiff Healthy City - a genuine priority in Cardiff
Cardiff has identified the priorities of health and health equity in its strategic planning through the Proud Capital: the Cardiff Community Strategy (2007-17) and the supporting strategies, Health, Social Care and Well Being Strategy (2008-11), Children and Young People's Plan (2008-11) and Safer Capital Action Plan. The development of the Integrated Partnership Strategy and the supporting strategies provides a common planning approach for 2011 and the partnerships have developed seven agreed outcomes for the city which include: People in Cardiff are healthy. The Cardiff WHO Healthy City Programme is integral to the delivery of this outcome for Cardiff.
WHO European Healthy Cities Network
66 cities are currently members of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network, (August 2010) and 30 National Healthy Cities Networks from across the WHO European Region belong and through the networks involve more than 1400 cities and towns.
These national Networks are seen as the backbone of the Healthy Cities movement in Europe. They provide political, strategic and technical support to their members, represent a national resource of experience and expertise in health development and offer a dynamic platform for public health advocacy at the national and international levels.
Each national network is unique. Each develops in response to the needs of its member cities, according to the resources available and within its own cultural and legal framework.
National networks can support the development and implementation of country strategies for health promotion, non-communicable disease prevention, and environment and health.
More information on WHO European Healthy Cities Network.
UK Healthy Cities Network
Established with funding from the Department of Health for England, the UK Healthy Cities Network is one of 30 national Healthy City networks across Europe, and has recently become one of 20 accredited by WHO as a member of the Network of European Healthy Cities Network..
Follow the link for more information on the UK Healthy City Network
UK Healthy Cities
In 2009 Cardiff became the first Welsh city to be awarded WHO Healthy City status, joining only 13 other cities in the United Kingdom. WHO Healthy Cities in the UK are:
- Cardiff
- Newcastle
- Sunderland
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Belfast
- Brighton
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Glasgow
- Sheffield
- Carlisle
- Preston
- Derry
- Swansea
World Health Organisation - WHO?
WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
In the 21st century, health is a shared responsibility, involving equitable access to essential care and collective defence against transnational threats. For Follow the link for more information about WHO
Health Statistics
