Health-Promoting Universities: The Chilean Experience

The Health-Promoting Universities (HPU) movement in Latin America has been strengthened by the work carried out in the countries by both public and private universities, as well as by the creation of HPU Networks in Chile and Mexico, among others. The International Conferences on HPU have also contributed to the promotion of the Initiative at the Iberoamerican and international levels, such as the international meetings in Chile (2003), Canada (2005) México (2007), and Spain (2009). In the Américas, the First International Meeting of HPU was carried out in Chile in 2003, coordinated by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the University of Alberta, Canada, which significantly contributed to the socialization of the HPU Movement. The institutional leadership of Chile in this area of work was made evident in 2006 when the Universidad de Los Lagos, in Puerto Montt, organized a working meeting to promote the work via a national and international network. Since 2003, the implementation of the Initiative in public and private Chilean universities has been facilitated and strengthened with the officially launching of the Network of HPU in 2006 at the Universidad de Los Lagos in Puerto Montt. This presentation will describe the development of the HPU and the Network of HPU in Chile and the plan to promote other universities to join the Network, with the purpose to better the quality of life and health of the university community, to contribute to the MDGs, as well to evaluate the experiences carried out to date.