The very successful Sao Paulo Health and Wellness Forum was held from 19-21 January 2020 in São Paulo, Brazil. The SPHWF 2020 was organized by Professor Ricardo Uvinha and his team from the University of São Paulo (USP) in partnership with Professor Mingkai Chin, the founder/president of the Foundation for Global Community Health (GCH). The theme of the Forum was: “Health and Well-Being: South America and Global Perspective: Linkage of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG 17)”. The major sponsor for the event was Serviço Social do Comércio at Sao Paulo (SESCSP). The forum was a full two days with invited lectures, by a selected group of international and national experts. The afternoon of the 2nd day, was devoted to discussion between groups as well as the drafting of a consensus statement. Special attention was given to the promotion of health and wellbeing in different sociocultural contexts. The groups consisted of the international and national invited speakers, local stakeholders, academics, people from the business sector, practitioners etc. whom engaged by interactions through presentations, group discussions and finally by reporting in the final session.
The main focus of the SPHWF2020 was Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), Good Health and Well-Being. The aim was to promote a discussion with national and international colleagues in which the role of healthy lives and wellbeing for all at all ages for the communities of São Paulo as well as the population of Brazil, were discussed. The SDGs are a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”. The SDGs, set in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and intended to be achieved by the year 2030, are part of UN Resolution 70/1, the 2030 Agenda. All 193 United Nations members agreed upon the 17 SDGs and accepted the global call to action and to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The Sustainable Development Goals, proposed by the UN, is one of the most important action plans worldwide and follow and expand on the millennium development goals (MDGs), which were agreed by governments in 2001.
The outcomes of the São Paulo Health and Wellness Forum 2020 was a consensus statement on the future directions and implementation of Goal #3 of the UNSDG17 in Brazil, with clear goals and targets for 2030. This consensus statement are currently prepared for publication and furthermore, this document will be an attempt to guide the current and future strategy and specifically how to move forward in this direction with clear goals and targets. The SPHWF2020 also explored the co-operation of an interdisciplinary approach for promotion of Good Health and Well-Being in the BRICS countries.
