Public health promotion as a priority for regional governmental policy

The article reveals aspects of public health management at the regional and municipal levels. This is an urgent task due to the high potential of the regulatory impact of these levels of government on people’s well-being. The aim of the work is to substantiate our own approach to understanding public health management at the regional (and municipal) level and put forward a tool for assessing managerial influence. We review scientific literature on public health issues, as well as regional and municipal strategic and program documents in the field of preserving and strengthening public health. We also systematize the components of public health management in strategic planning and project management at the regional and municipal levels (on the example of the Vologda Oblast) and consider individual tools for promoting public health. In order to assess the effectiveness of development of municipal programs related to public health promotion, we work out a public health and well-being index and test it in two variations: to be used at the regional and municipal levels of government; this constitutes the scientific novelty of our study. We reveal key problems in assessing public health management and propose recommendations on their solution and improvement of methodological and informational tools.