State preventive project “Healthy cities and towns”: experience and prospects

Objective. To analyze the history and prospects for the promotion of the national preventive project “Healthy Cities and Towns” (project) in Belarus, taking into account international experience.

Materials and methods. The experience of implementing the World “Health Organization Healthy Cities” initiative in various countries was analyzed. To study the specifics of the initiative's implementation in Belarus, a retrospective analysis of the database of settlements included in the project, the regulatory documents governing its creation and operation, was conducted.

Results. In 2025 620 cities and towns from all administrative territories of the Republic of Belarus are involved in the project, a 6.1-fold increase compared to 2019. The Mogilev Region has seen the largest increase – a 15.6-fold increase compared to 2019 from 7 in 2019 to 109 in 2025. The Grodno Region has seen the smallest increase (3.1 times) in the number of cities and towns involved in the project (from 18 in 2019 to 55 in 2025).

Conclusion. The decision to approve the project “Healthy Cities and Towns” in 2019 represented a powerful measure of government support for achieving a new level of national health through the development and implementation of modern strategies and new management approaches to creating health-preserving spaces in the republic's populated areas.

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