Criteria for Healthy Municipalities, Cities, and Communities in the Region of the Americas

Abstract

The regional criteria for healthy municipalities, cities and communities (MCCS) of the Americas, adopted at the Meeting of Mayors for MCCS of the Region of the Americas in 2022, present a set of reference guidelines to strengthen public policies, plans and programs aimed at improving the health and well-being of the populations served by local governments. It is based on the recognition of the key role of municipalities in promoting healthy public policies, taking into account that these transcend the health sector and the role that other sectors have, given the impact of all public policies on health. These criteria are the result of collaborative and interdisciplinary work with the participation of different people and institutions in the Region, including local governments. Some key considerations for the development of these criteria were the experiences of national and subnational networks of healthy municipalities, the existing criteria in several countries in the Region and the World Health Organization guidelines for healthy cities. The criteria are grouped into six areas of political action and for the implementation of each one a group of recommended actions is included, as well as a proposal for means of verification and compliance indicators. They are addressed to municipal management teams, networks and associations of municipalities in the Region, and ministries of Health, as support for policies that strengthen the inclusion of health promotion as a priority of local management. The existing heterogeneity among local governments is expressly recognized, where different organizational forms, competencies and availability of resources address diverse realities. For this reason, the criteria are conceived with a purposeful nature to adapt to this diversity and must be contextualized and prioritized in each territory. Undoubtedly, the application of these guidelines will lead to the identification of different challenges and opportunities that will enrich this proposal.