Conference to tout healthy lifestyles

Half of world's people live in cities, giving mayors great power to make a difference

People at home and abroad can expect some bold and exciting outcomes from the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion in Shanghai, according to Bernhard Schwartlander, World Health Organization representative in China, who is also the conference spokesman.

He made the remarks in an interview with China Daily on the eve of the conference, which is to run from Monday through Thursday this week, gathering more than 1,000 leaders in politics, health and development from China and abroad.

"Leaders will take concrete action to promote health and sustainable urban development through the adoption of the Shanghai Declaration and the Shanghai Consensus on Healthy Cities at the conference," Schwartlander said.

This will involve empowering and mobilizing communities and societies across the world to promote health awareness within communities and improve the social, economic and environmental determinants of health, he said.

The conference came after the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Healthy China 2030" plan, which recognizes a "health-in-all policies" approach to improving people's well-being.

"That, again, demonstrates the commitment to health promotion by the top leadership," said Song Shuli, spokeswoman of China's top health authority.

Schwartlander said the conference would serve as a platform for international communication, adding that it will feature a forum of more than 100 city mayors from China and around the world, focusing on how cities can promote healthily living.

Half of the world's population live in urban areas, and this figure is expected to grow to about two-thirds by 2030.

"Mayors have the power to improve the lives and well-being of residents," Schwartlander said.

Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York City, and US and WHO goodwill ambassador for noncommunicable diseases, will address the conference via video link.

Bloomberg was famous for pushing policies such as a soda tax and a higher legal age limit for smoking, said Liu Yuanli, dean of the School of Public Health at Peking Union Medical College.

In addition, the conference will gather leaders from the private sector, Schwartlander said. "They promote health through technologies and innovations."

Related panels with Robin Li, chairman and CEO of Baidu, and Baroness Joanna Shields - UK minister for internet safety and security and founder of WeProtect, a pioneering global alliance to end sexual exploitation online - will discuss entrepreneurship and innovative approaches for delivering health outcomes, Schwartlander said.

It is only through a range of sectors such as police, city planners, education, transport and others coming together that health issues can be addressed, he added, suggesting multi-sector collaboration within the government.

Many public health challenges cut across various sectors, such as tackling noncommunicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance or infectious disease, he said.

"To meaningfully address these issues, the health sector cannot do it alone, and a joint effort is needed."

For example, he cited finance ministries raising taxes on unhealthy products, transport and police ministries coming together to tackle road deaths and injuries, as well as tobacco control.

"To effectively curb smoking, we need to raise taxes on tabacco and make policies that create 100 percent smoke-free spaces and promote plain packaging to remove the glamorous image of smoking," he said.