Health in All Policies

Abstract

Nowadays, looking at its current state of art, it may be strongly stated that Health in All Policies (HiAP) represents one of the key principles of the European Union (EU) Health Strategy and is recognized as an integral part of all policies at the European level as well as at the global level. As a horizontal, policy-related strategy, HiAP has a high potential for contributing to improved population health but the implementing challenge may find several barriers once into practice. The institutionalization of HiAP within the governmental process, for instance, implies a strong leadership of the health sector in order to make population health a priority of the highest level of government. Evidences from case studies have been reported below to show how various mechanisms can be included and potentially adopted for pursuing the defined strategy for health protection and social gradient improvement. Final key recommendations have been provided for supporting policy makers in effectively implementing HiA