Health development planning and implementation in Győr

Abstract

The City of Győr joined the WHO (World Health Organization) European Healthy Cities Network in 1989 and it has also been involvedin the European Network of Designated Healthy Cities since 1994. During the last 3 decades deliberate interventions have been made in the city of Győr to influence the health of the population in a favourable direction. One of the frameworks of this is currently the City Health Development Plan of Győr, adopted by the general assembly of the town in December 2016, based on extensive social consensus and inter-professional cooperation. During the needs-based planning process, the goals of the Health 2020 and the Agenda 2030 (2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) strategies were also considered. A key consideration was the way in which health aspects of urban policy and urban planning could be further emphasized, utilizing the experiential knowledge of local citizens in decision-making, building on community participation and the multisectoral approach. An important goal was to integrate the development documents of the municipality into the Health Development Plan and to promote the implementation of the WHO Healthy Cities programme’s principles in the development documents that influence the life of the city. A new element –in line with the Health 2020 strategy –is the further development of cooperation practices with the health services –hospital and primary health care –for the sake of health promotion. In the last 30 years of the WHO Healthy Cities programme in Győr, stable political support has been established, a wide collaborative network has been developed, and diverse activities have been realized. The institutional structure providing the background is a guarantee of sustainability.