Press releases

7 Jun 2018

Plans to set up Association of Healthy Cities of Belarus

MINSK, 7 June (BelTA) – Belarus is considering ways to set up an Association of Healthy Cities, Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office in Belarus Batyr Berdyklychev told BelTA.

“We are talking about setting up the Association of Healthy Cities of Belarus that will cooperate with similar associations in other countries,” said Batyr Berdyklychev.

The WHO Healthy Cities project was launched in 1988 to pursue the principles of the UN Health for All strategy and Health 2020: the European health policy. The European network includes 96 cities and receives support from national networks of 30 countries. The Healthy City movement started in Belarus in 2012. In 2016, the city of Gorky joined the European network. Ostrovets in Grodno Oblast has every chance of obtaining accreditation of the WHO European Bureau. Mogilev is developing the Association of Healthy Cities and Village of Mogilev Oblast. Joining one of Minsk residential areas (possibly the Sovetsky district) to the European network is under consideration.

According to Natalia Zhukova, Belarus’ Deputy Healthcare Minister and Chief State Sanitary Doctor, the work on popularizing a healthy lifestyle in the country is based on the principle of creating a unified preventive environment: “healthy family-healthy school-healthy team-healthy society”. Three major projects are being implemented at the national level. These are Healthy City, My Lifestyle Today is My Health and Success Tomorrow and School is a Territory of Health.
The development of a favorable urban environment for promoting a healthy lifestyle was discussed at a national conference with international participation in Minsk on 7 June. The event dedicated to the Healthy Cities project was organized by the Belarusian Healthcare Ministry in cooperation with the Russian association of Healthy Cities, Districts and Villages.

The conference was preceded by a working meeting between representatives of the Healthcare Ministry, the Russian association of Healthy Cities, Districts and Villages and the WHO European Network Healthy Cities. Chairman of the Association, Governor of Russia’s Vologda Oblast Oleg Kuvshinnikov expressed his interest in cooperation with similar national associations, especially in the SCO and BRICS countries.