Making and Changing Public Policy

Abstract

What is public policy and why is it important for health promoters to understand how policy is made? Public policy is generally seen as the web of decisions made by international, national, regional and local government, and given expression in the form of legislation, regulation and guidance. In the health promotion field one of the most significant examples of policy making in recent decades has been the WHO’s 1977 Health For All Strategy which set targets for the achievement of better health by the year 2000. Many countries signed up to the strategy, and this required them to demonstrate that action to attain the targets was being taken. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each produced a national health strategy, with targets for health improvement.