Minister Mattila to attend the WHO Conference on Health Promotion in China

The Minister for Social Affairs and Health, Pirkko Mattila, will take part in the World Health Organization’s Global Conference on Health Promotion in Shanghai on the 21st and 22nd of November.

The main theme of the “Health promotion in the Sustainable Development Goals” conference is promoting health and the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through services and good governance, as well as improving the competences, knowledge and attitudes associated with health promotion. Finland hosted the previous global conference on health promotion in Helsinki in 2013.

Health promotion does not happen just through the health sector; all sectors of society are needed for it. Promoting the health of the whole population improves equality between the different population groups. The best possible health is also important from the perspective of sustainable development. Finland will issue a national action plan for sustainable development by the end of the year. Alongside the many themes, one important objective is the reduction of inequality.

For a long time, Finland has taken an approach in its policies summarised as “Health and welfare in all policies”. The goal is to make a healthy lifestyle possible for all, and easy to choose. Finland has also been actively involved in promoting these issues globally.

Minister Mattila will speak in the conference panel as well as at the Zero Hunger nutrition event. In addition, the minister will visit a local health care education institution and the Finchi Innovation Center. The Innovation Center is part of Team Finland’s export promotion activities in China. The demand for services and equipment for the elderly, for example, is growing rapidly in the country and that offers Finnish companies new opportunities in the growing Chinese health care markets.

This will be the ninth WHO international conference on health promotion. The previous conference was held in Helsinki in the summer of 2013 and the theme was Health in all Policies.

Additional information:

Ministerial Adviser Satu Leino, tel. +358 2951 63428