On September 13-14th, the 6th International City Health International (CHI) Conference was held in Basel, Switzerland. City Health international is an annual international conference, which examines current policy and practice in relation to public health and health behaviours in cities.
The main theme of the CHI 2017 was ‘Empowerment, Engagement and Partnership: participating to develop healthy cities’. This reflects the belief that measures and actions for health promotion and urban development are more effective if the affected populations play an active and co-decisive role in the process of design, development and delivery. Evidence demonstrates that such engagement and participation contributes to sustainable solutions, to a greater identification with urban public space and increased intergenerational communication. These measures should lead to better improving health of city residents, increase life expectancy and social security of the population.
The conference was attended by about 130 delegates, including partners from the “Fast-track TB/HIV responses for key populations in EECA cities” project from Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Representatives from NGOs that implement the project in cities, municipalities, key populations, city AIDS Centres held a separate meeting to discuss the progress, achievements and challenges of the project, as well as the forthcoming visits of city delegations to the municipalities of Bern and Amsterdam, and exchange visits between project cities.
The conference covered broad public health topics, including sessions on homeless people, alcohol, nicotine and cannabis use, physical culture, sports, life expectancy, ecology and environmental protection, etc.
The conference ended with the announcement of City Health International 2018 Conference, which will be held on September 13-14, 2018 in Odessa, Ukraine. This will be the first City Health Conference in the Eastern European region.