Chapter five
Discourses on health
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Smoke Free Europe - A Forum for Networks
iscourses on health have often been born in a special climate.That
on health promotion was created in the 1980«s when the megatrends
were published, the concept of new public health saw daylight
and the wealthy states were interested in taking a look at the
role and status of health in society in addition to disease. The
megatrends have been rewritten ever since and the economic and
social climate has changed enormously in just ten years. Most
discourse on health promotion is very much concerned with the
same cornerstones as in the previous decade. The tone of the discussion
has changed remarkably. The concept has stood well the winds of
post-modern society. Theories of health promotion have adopted
new elements over time and the whole process sails close to the
edge of public sector and market forces. Politically, such discourse
has only started in many countries, but health promotion has been
brought to the agenda of the 1990«s with a different status.
In many countries smoking control policies have been transforming
into discourses on environment. Health has acquired new dimensions,
and the social dimension is more in the focus than before. The
discussion has raised people's knowledge to a different level
and there are countries where the need to discuss the harmful
effects has been decreasing and is being limited to new scientific
findings. The variation is tremendous as economical aspects of
tobacco production keep the question out of the political priority
list in many parts of the world. In various cultures the discourses
are increasingly various although the basic scientific principles
remain the same everywhere.
Harri Vertio