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ABSTRACT
Background
Advocacy is one of the core functions of public health and is a key tool for achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Public health associations play a key role in advocating for the development and implementation of strategies to prevent diseases and promote health and well-being.
Objective
This study aims to map out the focus of public health advocacy carried out by selected national public health associations over 4 years, between 2018 and 2021, in order to identify gaps and strengths and support associations and professionals in their advocacy efforts.
Methods
Twelve national public health associations participated in the study. Official policy documents produced between 2018 and 2021 were collected and analysed. The title and summary of the policy documents were examined line by line and coded into the main subject categories and themes. A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted. Policies were assessed from global and regional perspectives.
Results
A total of 220 policy documents were analysed. Overall, the largest number of policy documents came from high-income countries and dealt with environmental health and communicable diseases, including COVID-19, with, however, important differences among regions. In the African region, public health advocacy focused mainly on strengthening health systems; Europe and South America were mostly concerned with communicable diseases and pandemic management; and North America and the Western Pacific regions focused primarily on climate change. Limited attention was paid to international health and health as a human right in all regions.
Conclusion
Our study showed that, especially in high-income countries, public health associations actively engage in advocacy; however, more effort needs to be devoted to implementing a more international and intersectoral approach at the global level, anchored in health as a human right and aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Responsible Editor Maria Nilsson
Responsible Editor Maria Nilsson
Acknowledgments
The authors of the study thank the public health associations that participated in the study and shared their policy documents, as well as the members of the WFPHA Policy Committee, for their helpful suggestions.
Author contributions
LW and SH collected the data and carried out the analysis. LW wrote the manuscript with support from SH and ML. FZ revised and supplemented the manuscript according to reviewers’ suggestions. ML conceived the study and supervised the project. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the final manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Ethics and consent
Ethics approval was not required for this study.
Paper context
Advocacy is one of the core functions of public health. Now more than ever, coordinated, effective, and resilient advocacy is needed at different levels to address health threats such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. In this context, national public health associations play a key role in providing evidence-based recommendations to policymakers. This study aims to understand how advocacy is carried out in different regions and identify strengths and weaknesses in order to assist public health professionals in their work.