WHO regions for carrying forward the recommendations of the Conference. THE BANGKOK CHARTER FOR HEALTH PROMOTION

1 Millions of young people in the developing world never achieve two decades of life, let alone seven, and so it is with mixed feelings that Health Promotion International celebrates its 20th birthday this issue. Much has been written and said about the antecedents and milestones of the health promotion phenomenon [e.g. (Catford, 2004)], but what is clear from history is that any rapidly growing movement or organization needs to re-invigorate its purpose for existence as well as build its capacity for success. This is vital if health promotion is to be truly a response to both national and global challenges. The forthcoming Bangkok Conference and foreshadowed Bangkok Conference will seek to fill this gap. The leadership of the World Health Organization (WHO) over this period has been paramount and has been enacted through a series of International Conferences on Health Promotion (Ottawa in 1986, Adelaide in 1988, Sundsvall in 1991, Jakarta in 1997 and Mexico City in 2000). The status and direction of health promotion globally is due in no small measure to these technical and scientific meetings. In response, the World Health Assembly (WHA) called on member states in the spirit of Alma-Ata, to develop strategies for health promotion and to strengthen the required structure and resources at all levels (WHA42.44). The WHA Resolutions on Health Promotion (WHA51.12) and on Diet, Physical Activity and Health (WHA55.23) recognised the Ottawa Charter as a worldwide source of guidance and inspiration for health promotion. But this important resource needs to be complemented with innovative and authoritative advice in light of new challenges and opportunities, particularly for lowand middle-income countries. Encouragingly, WHO in partnership with the Royal Government of Thailand is organizing the 6th Global Conference in Bangkok on 7–11 August 2005. Entitled ‘Policy and Partnership for Action: Addressing the Determinants of Health’, the conference seeks to achieve a set of ambitious outcomes: