Promoting and protecting health as a priority on the road to sustainable development

Purpose: The article aims to assess the situation of the European Union countries regarding health promotion and protection. The study has adopted indicators related to Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) in 27 EU countries in two research periods (2014 and 2020) so that it will be possible to assess the situation of the studied countries and indicate which countries have improved or not their situation related to the studied phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach: A taxonomic measure of development based on Weber's median vector was used to assess the implementation of SDG3 in EU countries. Upon its basis, rankings of EU countries were constructed, and typological groups of similar levels were determined due to the studied phenomenon. Findings: The study results showed that the older EU member states are characterised by a better situation in health protection and promotion compared to the newer, mostly post- communist countries. The best-rated countries in the first research period were Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark, while in the second one, it was again Sweden, the Netherlands and Ireland. Social implications: The results of the studies presented in this paper can be useful for the diagnosis of the results achieved so far and for the revision of the health policy of the whole European Union as well as of the individual countries in the future. Originality/value: This article is part of the debate on combining health promotion and protection, emphasising a balanced diet and physical activity, and sustainable development. Health promotion, a process that enables people to increase control and improve their health, is expected to play an important (and transformative) role in achieving the sustainable development of Goal 3 (ensuring health for all and at all ages).