The Importance of Health in All Policies (HiAP)

Abstract

The concept of health in all policies (HiAP) has emerged as a mechanism to promote actions on the social determinants of health, with an emphasis on oppressors in which health is not a priority. Health in all policies is important for prevention, for promoting a healthy lifestyle, as well as for improving the factors that harm the health of the population as a whole. This article aims to talk about the significance of health in all policies; It begins by giving a general description of HiAP, by addressing issues such as the importance of health in all policies, stages, and conditions of applying HiAP at the level of public policy, but also prospects for introducing HiAP in Romania. Health in all policies (HiAP) was legally legitimized as a European Union (EU) approach in 2006 and resulted from long-term efforts to improve actions on the need for health involvement in policies, stemming from the recognition that policies affect health care systems and the scope of national health regulations. However, HiAP implementation remained a challenge. HiAP is a more complex approach compared to health impact assessment, and at the European level, it needs to take into account the importance of developing European policies with implications in the health field, as well as the extension to transparency, accountability, and scope for health policy arguments in political decision making.