20 YEARS OF THE HEALTHY CITIES MOVEMENT IN EUROPE (COMMERCIAL POSTAGE STAMP)

The International Healthy Cities Conference of the World Health Organization (WHO), held on 15–18 October 2008 in Zagreb, marks the 20th anniversary of the European Healthy Cities movement of the WHO, the movement based on the first international Healthy Cities Conference held in Zagreb in the far-away year 1988. The present-day Healthy Cities movement is a great international family numbering some 10 thousand members. The Zagreb project was the starting point for all other city projects as well as the county projects in Croatia and was one of the founders of the Croatian network of healthy cities. The City of Zagreb as one of the founders of this movement is now going to be host to this conference for the second time; the holding of the conference in our environment represents a great acknowledgement for the contribution to the movement’s development so far, but also the obligation to contribute to its further development by its activity. In the past 20 years, led by the fundamental principles of the “health for everyone” movement, the Zagreb City authorities, together with the all of the health policy determinants organized, stimulated and implemented concrete programmes, directed at the preservation and improvement of the living environment and human health through partnership with citizens, taking into account the principle of equality in their right to health. By successfully avoiding negative consequences of speedy development, in so doing protecting our tradition that the city is proud of, the City of Zagreb is turning into a healthy environment for the life of all its citizens.