The Role of National Governance Structure in Public Health Promotion Policy; a Case Study of Nordic Countries

Promotion of health policy system is one of the important areas of public policy in different countries. Given the enormous costs of public health policies in the development planning of different countries, the degree of socio-political responsibility of governments and individuals as ordinary citizens are varies in different countries. The degree to which governments are responsible or irresponsible in promoting public health is directly related to the structure and system of governance of countries and their political orientations. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is the impact of the role and orientation of governance structures in Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway) on the public health policy system. The main question of the research is whether public health policies in the Nordic countries have a common ideological-political orientation or not? The paper emphasizes that the four Nordic countries each have different political approaches to this issue which some of them are commonalities and some cases are differences. Each of these countries has a range of strategies, regarding the context of the government and its policy structure and governance. The paper based on the descriptive-library analysis method explains these strategies. Finally, based on the output and results of research and experiences of Nordic countries, some policy recommendations are proposed to improve the public health and care policy system in the Islamic Republic of Iran.