By Lucy Phillips
20 January 2010
Public health experts have urged all political parties to sign up to a 12-step manifesto to improve the nation’s health.
The proposals from professional body the UK Faculty of Public Health and the independent Royal Society of Public Health include a minimum price for alcohol, a ban on the use of transfats (chemically altered vegetable oils found in many cakes, ready-meals and fast-foods) and a ban on smoking in cars with children.
Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health, told Public Finance that the NHS would save ‘millions, if not billions’ of pounds through reduced hospitalisation and primary care if the measures were adopted. He warned that the UK was facing a health ‘time bomb’ and that illness prevention should be a priority for any incoming government. ‘Despite the fact that there are tough financial times ahead, effective prevention is the only way to help to ease the pressure on the NHS,’ he said.
Maryon-Davis defended the proposals as ‘realistic’ in spite of the state of the public finances, although he conceded that two of the proposals – providing free school meals for all children under-16 by 2014 and a school nurse for every secondary school within ten years – would be ‘expensive’. But he said such measures should not be implemented overnight, and ‘generous time frames’ meant ‘we should be over the worse of the public sector difficulties by then’.
Jo Weber, deputy policy director at the NHS Confederation, which represents over 95% of NHS organisations, said the manifesto was ‘worthy of further exploration although some of the policies on the list implicitly come up with upfront initial costs or may be hard to enforce’.
This week, the government announced a new mandatory code for alcohol retailers (to take effect from April), which included a ban on ‘irresponsible’ drinks promotions. The Conservatives have proposed a duty increase on ‘problem drinks’, such as extra-strength cider and alcopops.
Both parties have stopped short of introducing a minimum price for alcohol, as recommended by chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson, and are yet to commit to other public health policies.
20 January 2010
Public health experts have urged all political parties to sign up to a 12-step manifesto to improve the nation’s health.
The proposals from professional body the UK Faculty of Public Health and the independent Royal Society of Public Health include a minimum price for alcohol, a ban on the use of transfats (chemically altered vegetable oils found in many cakes, ready-meals and fast-foods) and a ban on smoking in cars with children.
Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, president of the Faculty of Public Health, told Public Finance that the NHS would save ‘millions, if not billions’ of pounds through reduced hospitalisation and primary care if the measures were adopted. He warned that the UK was facing a health ‘time bomb’ and that illness prevention should be a priority for any incoming government. ‘Despite the fact that there are tough financial times ahead, effective prevention is the only way to help to ease the pressure on the NHS,’ he said.
Maryon-Davis defended the proposals as ‘realistic’ in spite of the state of the public finances, although he conceded that two of the proposals – providing free school meals for all children under-16 by 2014 and a school nurse for every secondary school within ten years – would be ‘expensive’. But he said such measures should not be implemented overnight, and ‘generous time frames’ meant ‘we should be over the worse of the public sector difficulties by then’.
Jo Weber, deputy policy director at the NHS Confederation, which represents over 95% of NHS organisations, said the manifesto was ‘worthy of further exploration although some of the policies on the list implicitly come up with upfront initial costs or may be hard to enforce’.
This week, the government announced a new mandatory code for alcohol retailers (to take effect from April), which included a ban on ‘irresponsible’ drinks promotions. The Conservatives have proposed a duty increase on ‘problem drinks’, such as extra-strength cider and alcopops.
Both parties have stopped short of introducing a minimum price for alcohol, as recommended by chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson, and are yet to commit to other public health policies.
