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Abstrakt

The Ottawa Charter: The Implications upon Public Health almost 31 Year since its Declaration

Joshua Onyango

Objective: The aim of this article was to analyse the charter and its impact on health inequalities almost 31 years after its declaration.

Methods: A discussion paper reviewing relevant literatures on the impact of the Ottawa Charter on inequalities in health, almost 31 years following the declaration. Detailed literature search was conducted using databases such as CINHAL, Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews as well as Public Health England (PHE) (UK) website were used to generate the most relevant databases to inform the paper.

Discussion: There is evidence suggesting that although the key purpose of the Charter was to reduce inequalities amongst population, through effective public health and economic policies, there still exists a huge socio-economic gap amongst populations in developing and developed nations. The key determinants contributing to the gap remains inequalities in resource allocation and access, as opposed to poverty.

Conclusion: There is an urgent need for political leaders and public health professionals to focus on reduction of inequalities by developing and implementing public health and economic policies that address the root causes of the inequalities.