Improving capacity for health promotion

Health promotion helps reduce excess mortality, address the leading risk factors and underlying determinants of health, and strengthen sustainable health systems. It places health at the centre of the broad development agenda.

In the increasingly globalized, complex and inter-dependent world, health promotion calls for dynamic leadership qualities. In 2004, ProLead – a regional Health Promotion Leadership Training Programme – was initiated. It engaged individuals with leadership potential in a transformative process that aimed to change mindsets in order to take risks. The goal was to create a critical mass of leaders in health promotion who not only apply their knowledge and skills to their local projects and conditions, but who bring a global mindset and skills to implement. Throughout ProLead, teams are able to demonstrate how a systems approach and organizational reforms can improve health promotion in countries.