Organisations have a unique and vital role in improving the
wellness, health and physical fitness of employees not only in
the developed world but also around the globe, particularly in
those countries where increasing rates of chronic disease will
take an increasing toll.
Objectives
• Catalyse high-level commitments to advance workplace wellness
initiatives across multiple business sectors and from multiple
stakeholders
• Facilitate collaboration between stakeholders in the battle
against chronic disease
• Generate expert insights and spread best practices on how to
create and monitor an effective workplace health programme
Latest Report
The 61st World Health Assembly will be the occasion for
discussion of the World Health Organisation's global action plan
on non-communicable diseases.
Over the past year the World Economic Forum has collaborated
with the World Health Organisation to investigate a potential
solution - workplace wellness programmes - and concluded that
these are a real yet under-exploited opportunity requiring a
collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach. The full release of
the “Preventing
Noncommunicable Diseases in the Workplace through Diet and
Physical Activity”
[Local copy
Preventing Noncommunicable Diseases in the Workplace through
Diet and Physical Activity]
The Workplace as a
Health Promotion Setting
Workplace health promotion (WHP) programmes,
targeting physical inactivity and unhealthy
dietary habits, are effective in improving
health-related outcomes such as obesity,
diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk
factors. Enhancing employee productivity,
improving corporate image and moderating medical
care costs are some of the arguments that might
foster senior management to initiate and invest
in WHP programmes. Unhealthy diets and excessive
energy intake, physical inactivity and tobacco
use are major risk factors for noncommunicable
diseases (NCDs). In 2005, an estimated 35
million people died of NCDs such as heart
disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. Around 80%
of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income
countries that also have to deal with the burden
of infectious diseases, maternal and perinatal
conditions and nutritional deficiencies.
Working Towards Wellness at the World
Economic Forum Annual Meeting, Davos, January
2008
During a high-level meeting of leaders from
business, government and civil society, sixteen
CEOs and leaders made a
call to action (PDF)
[local copy:
call to
action] to raise employee health on
the corporate agenda. Participants focused on
the “how” not the “why”, with exciting
commitments for the year by organizations such
as Best Buy, World Heart Federation, Nestlé,
Pitney Bowes and the Harvard School of Public
Health. Participants reviewed cutting edge
thinking from the BT Group, Right Management (a
Manpower Company), PricewaterhouseCoopers and
The NHS Institute.
Summary of Key Conclusions -
download PDF of
summary [local copy:
download
PDF of summary]
Business Rationale (prepared by
PricewaterhouseCoopers) [local copy:
Business Rationale ]
Measuring Change (prepared by Right
Management, a Manpower Company) [local
copy:
Measuring Change]
Practical Steps (prepared by BT Group)
[local copy:
Practical Steps]
Global Examples (prepared by The NHS
Institute and containing case studies of
wellness programmes at Dow Chemical, Eskom,
Discovery Holdings, Becton Dickinson)
[local copy:
Global Examples] |
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