FPH response to 'Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A call to action on obesity in England'
(9 November 2011)
Professor Lindsey Davies, President of the Faculty of Public Health (FPH), said: "This is a long-awaited report and we will scrutinise it thoroughly to see how it will improve the public's health and waistlines.
"The report says that the government will 'do what it can' to help people make better choices, and it is asking all of us to do what we can to take responsibility for our own health. However, we are disappointed that the government has not yet stepped up to its responsibility to protect the public’s health by banning transfats and introducing a minimum price for alcohol.
"The smoking ban has demonstrated how changing the law can improve health and save thousands of lives. The government must use the law as well as 'nudge' techniques to create a culture that makes it easy for people to make healthy choices and consume fewer calories.
"Responding to the call to action, launched today, needs leadership and resources, which will be a real challenge to public health at such an uncertain time. We will continue to make the case for evidence-based solutions to the obesity crisis."
The full report can be found online on the Department of Health website.
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Notes for editors
1. The UK Faculty of Public Health is the leading professional body for public health specialists in the UK. It aims to advance the health and wellbeing of the population through three key areas of work: health improvement, health protection and health services. In addition to maintaining professional and educational standards for specialists in public health and providing practical information and guidance for public health professionals, FPH advocates on key public health issues, influencing policy change at the highest level, and working closely with policymakers, professionals and the public to make a positive difference to people’s health and wellbeing.
2. In its response to Healthy Lives, Healthy People (available at www.fph.org.uk) FPH called on government to:
- Establish Public Health England as a special health authority – to maintain independence and public trust, employing all public health specialists and seconding them out to local authorities and other bodies to ensure maximum efficiency and resource allocation.
- Position the director of public health as influential and authoritative, with the professional freedom to challenge publicly gaps in local delivery, and to manage the allocated ring-fenced public health budget to ensure it is used for public health gains.
- Embed public health expertise in all commissioning bodies, including GP commissioning consortia, to ensure the effective and efficient commissioning (and decommissioning) of health services for local communities, ensuring that the needs of hard-to-reach groups are included.
- Develop a coherent and comprehensive framework for the appointment and regulation of all specialists in public health – to safeguard the public.
- Ensure sufficient funds are allocated to the ring-fenced public health budget to enable it to deliver public health gains – and provide protection to prevent it being raided to fund other services.
3. Public health is the science and art of promoting and protecting health and wellbeing, preventing ill health and prolonging life through the organised efforts of society. There are three domains of public health: health improvement (including people’s lifestyles as well as inequalities in health and the wider social influences of health), health protection (including infectious diseases, environmental hazards and emergency preparedness) and health services (including service planning, efficiency, audit and evaluation). All three domains need to be addressed actively by the public health system if the public’s health and wellbeing are to be protected and improved.
