President of IUHPE
2007-2010
Doctor David McQueen

A changing of the guard at the IUHPE
A changing of the guard at the IUHPE
President of IUHPE 2000-2006
Professor Maurice Mittelmark
European Vice-President of IUHPE/EURO 2007–2010
Executive Director Mika Pyykkö
European Vice-President of IUHPE/EURO 2000-2006
Professor John Kenneth Davies

1. First of all congratulations! How do you feel about becoming the President of IUHPE?

It is a great honor and a privilege to be elected President of IUHPE. It is recognition by your peers that you have something to offer an important organization.

2. Could you please shortly tell about yourself?

I am a Senior Biomedical Research Scientist and Associate Director for Global Health Promotion at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP), at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Prior to joining the Office of the Director I was Director of the Division of Adult and Community Health at NCCDPHP.

Prior to joining CDC I was Professor and Director of the Research Unit in Health and Behavioral Change at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (1983-1992), and prior to that Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore, USA

Over the past thirty years I have maintained an active interest in health promotion. In the 1980’s I chaired the WHO (EURO) committee that developed the document on the “Concepts and Principles of Health Promotion”; organized and participated in many conferences and meetings concerned with the fostering of health promotion in Europe; actively participated in the development of the Ottawa Charter; established a collaborating center with EURO concerned with the evaluation of health promotion, healthy cities and other health promoting activities.

During the 1990’s my concerns focused on 1) the challenges raised by the efforts to promote an evidence based health promotion; 2) efforts to build health behavior monitoring systems to establish a public health infrastructure for health promotion globally; and 3) the development of a broad theoretical base for health promotion.

For the past six years I have had the honor and pleasure to serve on the IUHPE Board of Trustees as an elected global member. I am especially thankful to those IUHPE members who have worked with me in my former position as Vice President for Science and Technical Development. I believe that this has been a very active 6 years of scientific achievement at IUHPE, especially with the Global Programme on Health promotion Effectiveness which I had the pleasure to undertake.

3. What kind of a President are you going to be for IUHPE?

First and foremost I am a delegator. We have at IUHPE an extremely strong contingent of elected Vice-Presidents, including your own Mika Pyykkö, and it is my intention to fully engage and use these talented people to develop the strength of IUHPE. IUHPE is also fortunate to have a very skilled and competent headquarters staff in Paris who will assist in the work of the President. My view is that as a leader your role is to allow good people to do their best work. Secondly, I am fortunate to inherit the work of excellent past Presidents; I intend to build on that past work.

4. What do you think is your biggest challenge in your new task?

In a word, “resources”. It is no secret that the world of health promotion suffers from a lack of resources, in terms of both money and people. This is true whether we consider the so-called wealthy world or the world of the poor. So the biggest challenge is to continue to build capacity for health promotion globally.

We talk a great deal about addressing issues such as inequity, poverty, marginalized people, “developing countries”, etc., but these all require investment in health promotion approaches. IUHPE as an organization has to show that we need more investment in health promotion is we are to really make a difference in these complicated problems.

5. What are you going to prioritize during your Presidency?

The need for continuing to build a strong infrastructure and capacity for health promotion globally has never been more critical. We are faced with worldwide inequities in health at the same time that the enormous burden of chronic and infectious diseases falls on most of the world, with particular impact on the poor. We need to develop appropriate health promotion practices to address the major global health issues. A broad-based health promotion is of vital importance.

I believe that international organizations like the IUHPE have a critical role in facing the challenges of this new century. I have as a high priority that health promotion be high on the agenda of global efforts to improve the public’s health.

6. What kind of possibilities and threats do you think globalization is going to bring to health promotion?

In my view globalization is a phenomenon that has been going on since ancient times, it is just that since industrialization it has accelerated and become more apparent. Health promotion itself is a child of recent globalization efforts and should be seen as a component of the phenomenon and not something that can stand outside the phenomenon. Health promotion has to work within the parameters of the current globalization phenomenon and make certain that the promotion of health is a positive component.

7. Whose responsibility of health should be increased in western countries, societies or individuals? How do you see the situation now?

In Western countries, with regard to the promotion of health, there will always need to be a careful balance between what the responsibility of the individual is and what is that of the state. It is also clear that there is tremendous variation in this balance by the country context and the overriding “culture” of governance found within the country.

Of course, as health care expenses have mounted over the years the problem of “responsibility” has become more complex. Few probably envisioned 50 years ago the enormous cost of modern clinical care for the major chronic diseases and few in Western countries would probably want to sacrifice the fruits of that modern care.

Nevertheless, those in health promotion recognize that the so-called causes of these chronic diseases are largely a mixture of risk factors and social determinants that are within the control of both individuals and the state. I foresee that health promotion will continue to work on both of these dimensions.

8. What kind of greetings would you like to send to people working in health promotion in Finland?

First off, keep up the great work that you are doing. Finland has such a rich history of accomplishment in health promotion and education that it is the envy of many!

Most of all I see Finland as a model of what countries of small population can do in health promotion, while at the same time showing some of the “big” countries what a broad-based health promotion approach can yield in improving overall health. IUHPE and other international organizations will continue to look to Finland for good ideas and collaboration.

9. Could you please tell, how do you promote your own health and of those near you?

For me, health is about keeping busy and active, both physically and mentally. My wife, Birgit, and I remain very involved in the cultural life in Atlanta, with a strong focus on the fine arts and music. In addition, we are avid gardeners, looking after our yard and our fishpond. At our ages we do our best to have routine, preventive health care and live a life of moderation in all things.