UK Public Health
Society Issues Public Health Manifesto
Calls For Action
On Nine “Most Pressing” Public Health Challenges
Prompted by the
election campaign underway in the United Kingdom, the Royal Society of
Public Health has identified what it considers to be the most pressing
challenges facing public health. It called for bold action in the
areas of taxation, regulation, and legislation which it called the
most effective interventions for driving sustained improvements in
population health.
The eight priority
areas and sub-areas are listed below with key reasons for selecting
them.
1. Reducing health
inequalities
There is a gap of
almost 20 years in life expectancy between the most and least deprived
areas of England. Inequalities are the first priority area.
2. Addressing the
digital determinants of health
Because time spent
online is taking an increasingly larger proportion of people’s lives,
there are more and more ways online activity can impact population
health. The RSPH calls these elements the “digital determinants of
health” and cites challenges with loss of self-esteem among young
people, increased exposure to online misinformation, online gambling,
and online shopping which keeps people at home. Others have called
online pornography a major public health issue.
3. Adopting a health
in all policies approach
The RSPH advocates a
radical rethinking of budget goals to view key outcome. This would
necessitate a moving away from the description of social goals as
related only to income and economic growth. To do this, one idea is to
create a composite Health Index which could take the place of Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) or be considered alongside it.
4. Harnessing the
Wider Workforce
In a novel concept,
the RSPH estimates that 20 million persons with the potential to
positively impact population health through their paid or unpaid work
could be recruited to help support the 40,000 core public health
workers directly involved in prevention. Examples of these potential
partners are Fire and Rescue Services, Community Pharmacy, and Housing
Associations among others.
5. Protecting the
Public’s Health
A priority in this
arena is improving the national immunization program, creating
stricter limits on air pollution to improve air quality, improving
food safety by making sure food safety powers and regulation are fully
utilized, and preventing infections due to tattooing, body piercing,
and other invasive procedures.
6. Tackling obesity.
Obesity in adults is
on the rise and is now at record high levels even for young children.
7. Children’s oral
health
UK lacks full
implementation of water fluoridation, which it calls the principal
measure which can improve the oral health of children and the nation
as a whole.
8. Tackling the harms
from drugs
The RSPH calls
criminal justice approaches “counterproductive” and request changes in
drug policy to decriminalize possession of illegal substances. Also
stronger tobacco control measures are called for to enhance the
progress already made in lowering smoking rates. Finally, alcohol
consumption is creating a huge expenditure for the National Health
Service and the group calls for actions to lessen the burden.
9. Funding Prevention
Services
Cuts in funding need
to be restored, particularly to deprived areas where cuts have been
proportionately greater than in the least deprived areas.
To read the full
Public Health Manifesto, visit:
http://bit.ly/35i7ggJ
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