As health literacy relates to the competences and skills of the individual and the complexity of the societal system, it requires a holistic societal approach, in which multiple sectors and actors work together to improve individual and societal health literacy to promote health equity and well-being for all. This approach requires action at the policy level, as policy-makers create the framework for the policies and strategies under which individuals live and under which society and its systems operate (Kickbusch et al., 2013; Sørensen et al., 2012).
"According to WHO, the work on health literacy should be seen as a political priority and a political commitment. Health literacy has also been a part of the WHO commitment since the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion was derived in 1986."
According to WHO, the work on health literacy should be seen as a political priority and a political commitment. Health literacy has also been a part of the WHO commitment since the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion was derived in 1986. In the Shanghai Declaration from 2016 on promoting health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, health literacy is highlighted and emphasised as an essential tool to empowering citizens and creating equity in health. It calls for political commitment and financial investment in health promotion to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs and to achieve the aim of the Shanghai Declaration, which is to leave no one behind (WHO, 2016).
In the EU, health literacy is also being more prioritised on the political health agenda, which can affect the Nordic countries that are member states of the EU. For example, the European Commission funded the European Health Literacy Project HLS-EU in 2009–2012 (Sørensen et al., 2015).
WHO/Europe, of which the Nordic countries are all member states, also has health literacy high on the agenda. In 2013, WHO/Europe published the report Health literacy: The solid facts, based in part on the HLS-EU findings and contributing to the raised status of health literacy on the European programme of WHO. More publications have since been published, for example, on guiding and supporting policymakers in the member states to adopt and implement national and other integrated policies and strategies on health literacy (WHO Europe, 2019a; WHO Europe, 2021a). M-POHL, the Measuring Population and Organizational Health Literacy Action Network was, as has already been mentioned, initiated by WHO/Europe based on the recommendations of Health literacy: The solid facts.
As health literacy is gaining more attention on the agenda of WHO, WHO/Europe, and the EU, it also reflects the attention on health literacy in the Nordic countries. There has been an increase in Nordic research with a focus on health literacy over the last decade, and the topic is also finding its way onto the strategic and political arenas in the Nordic countries, but at different speed. Norway is the first and so far the only Nordic country to have a national strategy for health literacy, Strategi for å øke helsekompetansen i befolkningen 2019–2023 (Helse- og omsorgsdepartementet, 2019).