Parliamentary White Paper 15 (2022-2023) - Public Health Report: National Strategy for Reducing Social Health Inequalities.

The present document contains Norway's Parliamentary White Paper 15 (2022-2023), titled "Public Health Report: National Strategy for Reducing Social Health Inequalities". The White Paper presentes the government's comprehensive efforts to promote better public health and quality of life in the population, and serves as the government's strategy to reduce social health inequalities. It reflects the government's aim to give higher priority to public health policy. The White Paper incorporates a gender perspective by emphasizing public health challenges that disproportionately affect women.
The Public Health Report focuses on six main areas of action: 1) The social determinants of good health; 2) Lifestyle and prevention of non-communicable diseases; 3) Mental health and quality of life; 4) Protection against health threats and the right to a healthy environment; 5) Digitalization and communication; and 6) Preventive work within the health and care services. Objectives are set for each of these areas.
In relation to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Norway has aligned itself with the World Health Organization's (WHO) goal of reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by one-third by 2030, based on data from 2015. As concerns nutrition and NCDs, it is a goal to increase the proportion of people who follow dietary recommendations and reduce social inequalities in diet. The government will: 1) Establish school meal programs in municipalities and county municipalities to gather the best possible knowledge base for assessing further work on school meals; 2) Ensure the development of effective tools and guidelines for school owners and schools implementing school meal programs; 3) Publish recommendations for meals in accordance with the revised regulation on environment and health in kindergartens, schools, and after-school programs; 4) Initiate an external investigation on measures to promote a healthy diet; 5) Consider measures to better protect children from the marketing of unhealthy food and beverages; 6) Examine age limits and other possible measures to restrict the use of energy drinks among children and adolescents; and 7) Evaluate a cross-sectoral strategy for nutrition after the plan period for the National Action Plan for Better Nutrition (2017-2023) has ended.
In relation to health threats and the right to a healthy environment, the government aims to ensure that everyone is provided with a safe environment that safeguards health and reduces disparities in environmental quality that affect health. The White Paper recalls constitutional provisions and UN resolution 48/13, which provide guidelines for Norway's efforts to protect the population against health threats and create a good and health-promoting environment. This includes, among other things, infection control to prevent the occurrence and spread of infections in the population, including work on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), healthcare-associated infections, safe food, drinking water, radiation, environmental pollutants, air pollution, noise, and indoor climate.