HEALTH PROMOTION PACKAGES - Sundhedsstyrelsen

1 Introduction to the health promotionpackagesThis publication introduces the health promotion packages of the Danish Healthand Medicines Authority to our international partners.We first describe the background and purpose of the packages, briefly outline theircontent and some considerations about implementing them and provide a briefoverview of the process of developing them.The subsequent sections present core excerpts of the recommendations from individualpackages. The comprehensive health promotion packages in Danish includethe recommendations, references and other material. The Danish versions of thehealth promotion packages are available at www.sst.dk under Sundhed og forebyggelse– Kommunal sundhedsplanlægning – Sundhedsstyrelsens forebyggelsespakker.1.1 BackgroundThe work with the health promotion packages arose from the reform of local governmentin 2007 in which Denmark’s municipalities were delegated the responsibilityof creating healthy settings and establishing disease prevention and healthpromotion services for their citizens in accordance with the Health Act of 2005.Denmark has 98 municipalities, which span from small island communities of onlya few thousand inhabitants to the City of Copenhagen, with more than 500,000 inhabitants.The average municipality has a population of about 55,000. Given thesedifferences, the conditions for the health work vary considerably. The health challengesand opportunities for preventing disease of Denmark’s municipalities arewell documented, such as in the National Health Profile from 2010, which providesmunicipal indicators. The distribution of health (and morbidity) is clearly unequalbetween social groups in Denmark, and these health inequalities have widenedconsiderably over the past 20 years.Evidence on the economic effects of high-risk behaviour is growing, and it is becomingincreasingly apparent that unhealthy lifestyles and exposure to risk factorsimpose considerable additional costs on the municipalities. Society has much togain, including economically, from keeping people as healthy as possible and preventingpremature disease, suffering and death, not to mention the resulting sicknessabsence, production loss, nursing expenses and hospitalization, etc. With anageing population, Denmark’s municipalities have increased their focus on chronicallyill people. Nevertheless, disease prevention and health promotion measuresstill need to be maintained and developed for all citizens, irrespective of theirhealth status.Health promotion packages in Denmark – introduction and recommendations 4