title: Building health promotion capacity in developing countries: strategies from 60 years of experience in the United States.
abstract: The Galway Consensus Conference articulated key definitions, principles, values, and core domains of practice as the foundation for the diffusion of health promotion across the globe. The conference occurred in the context of an urgent need for large numbers of trained health workers in developing countries, which face multiple severe threats to the health of their people. In this article, the authors draw on the experience acquired by the health promotion profession in the United States to illustrate what might be done to build health promotion capacity in developing countries. They examine the profession's experience in the areas of accreditation and certification, research and publications, advocating for the profession, and advocating for public health policy. Finally, the authors direct a challenge to the profession in the United States to extend a hand to developing countries to assist them in expanding their capacity to prepare health promotion professionals and deliver health promotion services.
authors.affiliation: Sustainable Management Development Program, Division of Global Public Health Capacity Development, Coordinating Office for Global Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. ehowze@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Elizabeth H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Howze
authors.forename: M Elaine
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Auld
authors.forename: Lynn D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Woodhouse
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gershick
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Livingood
mesh_terms: D003906:Developing Countries; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development; D011634:Public Health; D014481:United States