Some bitter-sweet reflections on the Ottawa Charter commemoration cake: a personal discourse from an Ottawa rocker.

The Ottawa Charter both gave health promotion a solid framework and health promoters an identity. Yet, health promotion has far from reached its potential in being internalized in public health politics. Advocacy for health is one of the core missions for health promotion and the 25-year celebration of the Ottawa Charter offers a free ride, instead of being a missed opportunity. WHO has not met the expectations in taking advantage of the momentum and outcomes from the long series of global health promotion conferences. The series represents a lifeline for health promotion. Concepts like healthy public policy, supportive environments, social determinants, health and human rights, whole of government, globalization and others have been elaborated and framed in a health promoting context. The downside is that the footprints have not been bold, in particular not internationally. An upside is the development of research and science, underscored by a rapid development of scientific journals, textbooks, academic institutions and posts. A question arising is whether practise and policy making are left behind, since implementation on a grand scale still is lacking? Further and future efforts must be devoted to explore the processes and art of policy making. There is a need for more narratives and more health promoters involving themselves in policy making and politics. Health promotion is as relevant for the twenty-first century as ever. The challenges and opportunities are evident; the increasing global burden of non-communicable diseases, ageing populations, harmful use of alcohol, social determinants and fair societies improved governance and more. Health promotion can add value and WHO can step up its engagement.

Public health associations can make a difference: a tribute to the Canadian contributions and some future challenges for public health associations.

This commentary addresses the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Public Health Association's international program 'Strengthening of Public Health Associations' and its importance for the World Federation of Public Health Associations. Furthermore, it points out future challenges for public health associations throughout the world, on social determinants and fair societies, global governance, non-communicable diseases and chronic conditions, harmful use of alcohol, healthy ageing, and millennium development goals post-2015. The suggestions for keys to success are to expand the advocacy role, to improve the collaboration with public health practitioners, and to develop the interface between evidence and policymaking.

Gaining health: analysis of policy development in European countries for tackling noncommunicable diseases

There is no greater threat to the health of people in the WHO European Region than that of noncommunicable diseases,yet this is an area where the greatest health gains are available at relatively modest cost. This book gives a detailed insightinto the policy development in eight European countries over several decades to address the challenge of noncommunicable diseases, and draws out the main themes to assist policy-makers in formulating their own response. While originallydeveloped to support countries in the implementation of the WHO European Strategy for the Prevention and Control ofNoncommunicable Diseases, the insights are likely to be of benefit to a much wider audience.

Transforming Ottawa Charter health promotion concepts into Swedish public health policy.

Swedish public health policy clearly illustrates how the concept of the Ottawa Charter for health promotion can be utilized at a national level. The impact has been more implicit than explicit. Public health has a long history in Sweden and much of the present and future is, and will be, linked to traditional values and structures. International input, however, has been essential to prompt new approaches and change. Health inequalities remain the major shortcoming. The Swedish system offers universal access to healthcare in a decentralized system. Still, primary healthcare, and the health services as a whole have not yet sufficiently embraced the idea of health promotion. Political attention to modern public health at the Prime Minister level was established in late 1980s. Since, continuous initiatives in terms of organization, infrastructure and funding have taken place. With regard to funding, a vast majority of the resources allocated to health promotion will be found outside the health sector. An interesting observation is that the Swedish public health policy with its 11 objective domains remains the same, also after a change of government. Future challenges include maintaining and developing an intersectoral mechanism for implementation, allocating more resources for intervention research to strengthen knowledge-based health promotion, and developing tools for coping better with the challenges of globalisation identified in the Bangkok Charter.