Unit 1: Why health?

Health must always be an early consideration when a country considers bidding to host a major event such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Although such events may be associated with perceived threats to local health (e.g., from imported health risks) that must be managed, they also provide substantial opportunities for health improvement. The reality is likely to be that the perceived threats will not materialize and the adverse impact on local health services will be minimal. However, if the opportunities for health improvement are recognized and grasped, the event can yield a lasting health legacy with real benefits to the host country.

The challenge therefore is to recognize the possible benefits from the outset of planning and to build a positive approach to health issues into the earliest stages. These steps will help ensure that the concept of a “health-promoting Games” is integral to the national bid.

It is also difficult to imagine that a bid to host a major event in modern circumstances would not focus on the environmental impact of the event. Delivering the event in an environmentally friendly and ecologically sustainable way is almost certain to be a priority. This in itself will bring health benefits to the local population. The health community should work alongside the environmental community to promote these joint benefits as an integral part of the planning process and priorities.

See, for example

http://www.vancouver2010.com/en/Sustainability

http://www.london2012.com/plans/sustainability/index.php

http://www.london2012.com/plans/sustainability/legacy/index.php

Any country considering a bid to host a major event such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games should recognize at a very early stage that this cannot, and should not, be done without considering the positive implications for the health of the local population. There are substantial opportunities to use the staging of a major sporting event to improve the population’s health.

The most obvious impact is the ability to use the event to promote physical activity across the population. The report on Athens’ experience with the 2004 Olympics highlights that mass sports gatherings such as the Olympics can be powerful platforms for promoting health messages, especially physical activity and active living, healthy nutrition, and avoidance of smoking. However, the Athens experience also demonstrated that the effort of ensuring a safe Games overall can easily distract from health promotion activities. Thus, these activities need to be firmly embedded in the program from an early stage, with significant political and medical support.

In supporting London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the UK’s Chief Medical Officer states:

'The 2012 London Olympic bid has created a unique and exciting opportunity to strengthen the existing public health agenda and promote greater levels of physical activity in the capital’s population and across the country. The bid strongly reinforces the relationship between regular exercise and better physical and mental health.'

Further information

Mass gatherings and public health: The experience of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games (Chapter 15). Tsouros AD, Efstathiou PA (Eds). Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2007.http://www.euro.who.int/document/e90712.pdf (pdf file)

Annual reportof the Chief Medical Officer on the stat of public health 2004. London: Deprtment of Health 2005. http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=6892&Rendition=Web (pdf file)

There will also be potential health benefits in relation, for example, to healthy eating and smoking and a much broader health impact from the economic and social regeneration that can accompany a well planned Olympic event. Looking further forward, a focus on the environment and sustainability will also produce lasting health benefits. Actions to ensure that the health legacy for London was safeguarded began as soon as London’s bid was accepted.

Annual reportof the Chief Medical Officer on the stat of public health 2004. London: Deprtment of Health 2005.

http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dID=8798&Rendition=Web (pdf file)