COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Comparing the Ottawa Charter & the Jakarta Declaration

Comparing the Ottawa Charter & the Jakarta Declaration

Introduction

Following the Ottawa Charter, it was stressed the importance of creating supportive environments for health (1991: Sundsvall statement), the influence of the environment (1997: Jakarta Declaration), the importance of social support as a protective factor (2000: Mexico Declaration). In 2005, the Bangkok Charter put forward the need for a shared responsibility, in terms of health promotion, between the public and the private sector. It may be noted however that there is a very good law banning smoking in public places, but it took thirty years, and changing attitudes to enact! This is a bill (political action) acting on the environment and behavior. But mostly it protects non-smokers and do not necessarily encourage smokers to quit. And what a pleasure to go to cafes or restaurants now!

Discussion

The driving force for this process comes from the real power of communities, of possession and having control over their own endeavors and destinies (Elson, 2009). The health promotion uses strategies that act on the social responsibility and therefore on various partners to increase community capacity. The individual remains central to the process. It must enable him, and in his community, to act in favor of his health (International Union for Health Promotion and Education, 2007).

There is therefore the need to focus on health policy in this regard. So there is also a need for action on health determinants related to the development and well-being of individuals, including what might be called a healthy environment. Determinants of health are very broad and are not only those related to the person, but they are also relational, environmental, as they relate to work, to culture, family, society, etc. Many studies show the importance of social (inequality in education, the devaluation of self, emotional deprivation, the discrimination and exclusion, the isolation, the low degree of autonomy at work, etc.) The field of mental health is a particularly important area of intervention in health promotion (International Union for Health Promotion and Education, 2007). The Ottawa conference was conceptualized what is later called the determinants of health (Elson, 2009). The charter lists the prerequisites for health, requiring a number of conditions precedent and resources such as housing, education, proper nutrition, income, earnings from an eco-system stable, sustainable contribution resources, social justice and fair treatment (Elson, 2009). Thus, various factors can help or harm ...