SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being

Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Well-Being for All

SDG 3 revolves around a healthy life and should lead to good health and prosperity for all. This includes reducing maternal and infant mortality, as well as eliminating diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Everyone must have access to affordable medication. Furthermore, SDG 3 also calls for access to quality health care services as well as extra attention to sexual and reproductive health care.

SDG 3 Good health and wellbeing The Hague

Policy, Initiatives and Organizations

How The Hague Contributes

The rising health care costs in the Netherlands (and beyond) are strongly related to the increase in welfare diseases, which are often caused by unhealthy lifestyles. Moreover, there is a close relationship between health and poverty. The program 'Gezond en Gelukkig Den Haag' (Healthy and Happy The Hague) is a network of organizations focusing on connecting the medical and social domain. Positive health (health as a measure of resilience rather than the absence of illness) serves as the starting point. Encouraging a healthy lifestyle is an important part of this.

The healthcare challenges we are facing in The Hague are present in many places worldwide. When exchanging knowledge with each other, we contribute to improving health and well-being on a much larger scale.

Initiatives in The Hague

Healthy and Happy The Hague (Gezond en gelukkig Den Haag)

Every resident of The Hague has the right to a healthy and happy life. The Gezond en Gelukkig Den Haag movement (GGDH) is fully committed to this. This is necessary, because there are large differences in health and happiness between the various neighborhoods in The Hague. And if nothing happens, those differences will only get bigger.

Connecting the medical and social domain

Care and well-being is currently provided by many enthusiastic professionals whose tasks are strictly defined. This also applies to the flows of finance. The healthcare is partly funded by health insurers and partly by the national government and the municipality. The welfare tasks are alocated to the municipality. GGDH believes that the medical and social domains should work together because there is a close relationship between health and poverty. In addition, there are several successful citizens' initiatives that could be scaled up. Read more about Healthy and Happy The Hague here.

Haagse Zorgkracht

Residents' initiatives are playing an increasingly important role in keeping the city livable, enabling healthy living at home for a longer period of time and reducing healthcare costs.

Groups of active residents develop all kinds of activities based on their own values and needs to make their neighborhood healthier, more beautiful, more pleasant and more liveable. It is precisely because of the personal involvement of the residents that these initiatives have unique qualities and possibilities.

This bottom-up citizen power is indispensable and offers new possibilities and opportunities to the city. Too often, government officials are still talking about instead of with residents, and residents are more often seen as consumers than as partners. It is necessary that residents have a clear voice in the dialogue between residents, the municipality and professionals. Read more about Haagse Zorgkracht here.

Haags Steun Systeem

Het Haags Steunsysteem (Support System The Hague) connects professionals, clients, experts, informal carers and volunteers from more than 120 organizations in The Hague, with the aim of supporting residents of The Hague with psychological disabilities to actively participate again in their own environment.

Jongerenpunt070

Jongerenpunt070 is for everyone between the ages of 18 and 27 who has questions about the future, education and work. The objective is to create prospects for work, return to school or a combination of working and learning. Read more about Jongerenpunt070 here.

Urban Agriculture The Hague

Actively getting started with urban farming is not only fun, it also has positive effects on your health. Research indicates that the color green has a positive effect on humans. Working in a vegetable garden provides physical exercise and mental relaxation, while you can enjoy the fresh air. And last but not least, people gain a lot of social contacts when they are involved in an urban agriculture initiative. They can show their qualities and also gain work experience.

Did you know that allotments are not the only form of urban agriculture? There are also neighborhood gardens, urban beekeepers and urban farms. Read more about urban agriculture here.

Lekkernassûh

Lekkernassûh is a community of people working together based on a vision for a fair, local food system in and around The Hague. Read more about Lekkernassûh here.

SDG 3