Congress report - European Health Forum Gastein

34
Investing in Better Health in Wales
Jane Hutt
European Health Forum Gastein 2001
Introduction
Integrating health across policies is a major challenge for us all. It is a challenge for
governments and organisations in all sectors and a challenge that exists at all levels – from
local through to national through to international. But, given what we know of the part
played by the social, economic and environmental factors in determining people’s health, it
also provides us with opportunities to achieve a far greater impact on improving people’s
health and well being.
For far too long, improving health has been seen as the responsibility of the health sector
alone. That view is changing fast and the proposed health programme for the European
Community reflects it. Effective and efficient health services to treat ill health and disease
remains a priority but the need for more action to prevent ill health and to improve health
has been recognised. The challenge is in making it happen and success will depend on a coordinated
and sustained effort that harnesses contributions from all sectors.
Integrating health across policy areas is one of my specific goals as Minister for Health. For
this reason I am particularly glad to be here, not only to inform you of what we are doing in
Wales, but also to learn of others’ approaches.
The National Assembly for Wales was established as the Government of Wales in 1999, as
part of constitutional change within the UK. From the start, I and my Cabinet colleagues
realised that an overarching strategy was required to set the scene for connecting policies
across the Assembly’s responsibilities. Our strategy is grounded in recognition of the range
of social, economic and environmental factors that affect health and a desire to achieve a
more integrated approach where policies and programmes add value to each other.
All we do is framed by our strategic plan entitled Better Wales. Improving health and well
being is one of its priorities, along with a better, stronger, economy; better opportunities
for learning; better quality of life; and better, simpler, government. These, and the
Assembly’s crosscutting themes of sustainable development, equal opportunities and tackling
social disadvantage are all relevant to the theme of improving people’s health and well
being.
However, having such a strategy is only one part of the equation. We need to develop new
ways of working, new intersectoral approaches and new tools to assist the development of a
more integrated approach. Health impact assessment is one such tool with considerable
potential.
We will hear more about health impact assessment this afternoon so I won’t go into detail
on this. However, I will say that health impact assessment is a key to our approach. Ours is
a pragmatic approach designed to develop its usefulness from within the policy development
process and, importantly, to learn from experience. It is helping us to understand better the
interactions between health and other policy areas, and to identify new opportunities to
protect and to improve people’s health.
Making the connections is important. Health is relevant across policy areas but there is still
some way to go to raise others’ awareness of this and, more specifically, to secure their
commitment to improving health as something to which they could contribute through the
International Forum Gastein, Tauernplatz 1, A-5630 Bad Hofgastein
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