Finland has a long history of intersectoral public health policy and played an important role in the development of the Health in All Policies approach. This JA PreventNCD-supported editorial reflects on how the Finnish policy environment has changed since the 8th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Helsinki in 2013, and what those changes mean for efforts to integrate health and health equity across policymaking.
The authors describe how Finland progressively strengthened structures supporting intersectoral health policy, including legislation, public health programmes, impact assessment and health monitoring. More recently, however, some of these structures have weakened as political attention has shifted towards healthcare reform and economic, commercial and security priorities. At the same time, work in specific areas such as nutrition, physical activity and mental health promotion has remained more resilient, while challenges have emerged around issues including alcohol, tobacco and nicotine products.
The editorial highlights that successful Health in All Policies implementation depends strongly on the wider political and economic context. The authors emphasise the importance of understanding changing political priorities, identifying windows of opportunity and maintaining strong public health institutions and expertise. They also underline the value of a supportive legal basis, consistent data production, analysis and monitoring in sustaining attention to health and health equity when political priorities change.
Read the full editorial in Health Promotion International:
https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daaf239