The last WHO webinar of the reINVENT & reBUILD webinar series titled: unlock the impact of more active societies, took place on October 14th. During the webinar, the WHO officially launched its new advocacy brief Fair Play: Building a strong physical activity system for more active people.
During the event, Dr Fiona Bull, Head of the WHO Physical Activity Unit, explained how the pandemic highlighted the importance of physical activity for physical and mental health. Yet, it also impacted the physical inactivity levels with a concrete lack of access to infrastructures which closed during lockdowns. The inactivity crisis which is now ongoing, further pushed the WHO to expand their work on the matter, which is what led to this webinar series and the publication of the Fair Play Advocacy Brief. More details regarding the launch event can be found here.
The advocacy brief is a call for change, to act on the ongoing issues which are preventing proper physical activity policies such as an inadequate use of resources and a lack of systems for partnership and collaboration. It emphasizes how physical activity promotion is a policy win-win, which is essential, not only for a healthy population and a healthy planet, but it also benefits many policy areas such as the economy, the environment, education, and employment.
The Fair Play brief also identifies three strategic drivers of physical activity behaviour, which are: sustained communication campaigns; environments that provide a safe and affordable access to facilities; and programmes and services that offer accessible and inclusive opportunities throughout the course of one's life. The first and main actions to take to develop physical activity across the population are thus the following: innovative and diverse financing mechanisms; coherent policy, laws, regulatory frameworks and standards; and a more integrated delivery of physical activity. And these can only be achieved by promoting more partnership and collaboration amongst all sectors.
EuropeActive is proud to have contributed to this Advocacy Brief and to the first webinar of the reINVENT and reBUILD webinar series. Dr Fiona Bull will present the Advocacy Brief and the WHO's work on physical activity in more detail during the European Health and Fitness Forum, for which you can register here.