CREATING SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENTS FOR HEALTH - A CASE-STUDY FROM AUSTRALIA IN DEVELOPING NATIONAL GOALS AND TARGETS FOR HEALTHY ENVIRONMENTS

Creating healthy living and working conditions are central goals in public health which have re-emerged in prominence in the past decade. The roots of this revival of interest can be traced to include improved understanding of the relationship between living conditions and health, prompting by the World Health Organization (WHO) through its 'Health for All' strategy which has drawn attention to underlying causes of inequities in health in society, and a more general international concern with ecologically sustainable development. Australia has responded uniquely to the challenge of developing a strategy to create sustainable, supportive environments for health through its National Health Goals and Targets. These targets, published in 1993, include a range of targets for Healthy Environments which were developed from a 'health' perspective, but in co-operation with the different sectors of government responsible for action to achieve them. These include housing, transportation, education and employment. Early responses to the publication of the targets are encouraging, but will require sustained governmental support to reach fruition. Critical to success in developing and implementing the targets will be recognition by government, and particularly the health sector, of the legitimacy of inter-sectoral action for health. Negotiations to resolve potential conflicts in the priorities of different sectors should ensure that attention is focused on the common ground for practical inter-sectoral action to improve health. The Australian Targets Report identifies a series of concrete actions required to create supportive environments for health. A willingness to account for progress in achieving the targets for Healthy Environments' will be an important measure of the commitment of the Australian federal and state governments to the health and well-being of their citizens.