Health for all policies: the co-benefits of intersectoral action

In: European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies

Abstract

Factors outside of healthcare services determine our health and this involves many different sectors. Health for All Policies changes the argument about inter-sectoral action, from one focusing on health and the health sector to one based on co-benefits - a 'Health for All Policies' approach. It uses the Sustainable Development Goals as the framework for identifying goals across sectors and summarizes evidence along two causal axes. One is the impact of improved health status on other SDGs, e.g. better educational and employment results. The other is the impact of health systems and policies on other sectors. The 'Health for All Policies' approach advocated in this book is thus a call to improve health to achieve goals beyond health and for the health sector itself to do better in understanding and directing its impact on the world beyond the healthcare it provides. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.