All too often when people talk about health, they refer only to health care. While treatment of disease is obviously important, it is at least equally important to enact policies and engage in actions that will help people to stay healthy and thus reduce their need for medical care.

In order to bring attention to the importance of health promotion and to suggest some areas in which people can work, HealthBridge’s local partner, Work for a Better Bangladesh, is organizing the Conference on Tobacco Control and Health Promotion on the 4th of January 2016 (co-organized by HealthBridge and several universities), preceded by a workshop on the 3rd. The workshop will bring together sixty people from all over Bangladesh to discuss ways to use research, media, and advocacy to gain the enactment and implementation of pro-health policies. On the 4th, 160 people will gather to discuss healthy diet, healthy environment, inclusive development, and sustainable funding. Specific topics will include the importance of strong enforcement of the tobacco control law, the need to ban ads for unhealthy foods, the importance of an environment conducive to walking and cycling, and the need to plan for people with disabilities (special abilities).

The planning is a lot of work, but the hope is that health promotion will gain much-needed attention, and more people will come together to encourage government to create a health-promoting environment throughout Bangladesh.