Hong Kong is a highly urbanized city with a vibrant economy. Thanks to our public policies, governance and district administrative structure, population health has benefited significantly in the last few decades. We now produce enviable health indices (life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate) that are among the best in the world. Yet, we continue to face political, social, economic and demographic challenges as with elsewhere. With urbanization trend escalating around the world, the hosting of the 6th Global Conference of the Alliance for Healthy Cities (AFHC) in Hong Kong this year will be timely for sharing of updated knowledge and experiences among policy makers, academics, practitioners and community stakeholders etc. across the globe.
The main theme of this Conference is "Health in All Policies". It is a strategy for addressing the complex factors that influence health and equity, also referred to as the social determinants of health, which include educational attainment, housing, transportation options, and neighborhood safety. As such, collaborative approaches are advocated to improve population health by embedding health considerations into decision-making processes across a broad array of sectors. Under this are three sub-themes, namely (i) Age Friendly Cities, (ii) Prevention of Non-communicable Diseases and (iii) Public Health Emergency.
I am confident your participation and contribution would make this Conference successful in scaling up the global “Healthy Cities” movement around the world. And all of us would be excited to see better health of our people as well as our next generations to come.
See you in Hong Kong!
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Ms Scarlett PONG Oi-lan, JP
Chairman
Organising Committee
The 6th Global Conference of the Alliance for Healthy Cities |
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