Promoting health in Georgia

Abstract

This paper discusses the public health situation in Georgia. In 1991 Georgia became an independent republic following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The armed conflict with Russia in 2008 and political unrest in recent years has presented the Georgian population and politicians with a demanding situation. As part of the WHO European Region, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) including Georgia is on the unfortunate side of a European health divide, with low male life expectancy and high under-five mortality. There is also a high degree of economic inequality in the population. We first look at the main players and the current strategies in public health work. Next we discuss this on the background of health promotion principles and recent international developments in knowledge and policy recommendations in the field of health promotion. Finally we point to some of the major public health challenges that Georgia faces. We conclude that the Georgian focus on reducing risk behaviours and improving access to quality health care is worthy of praise, but that this is not sufficient to solve the current public health challenges. Strategies for working across sectors with social determinants of health should be built into Georgian health thinking and policies. A health promotion work force should be developed. International developments such as the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH) report, the ‘Health 2020’ framework and the HP Core Competencies project all provide useful input to future development of healthy public policies in Georgia.