What will it take to improve Scotland’s dismal health record and tackle our persistent health inequalities?
The Faculty of Public Health in Scotland has produced A Healthier, Fairer and More Productive Scotland: a Call to Action for all political parties in the May 2026 Scottish Parliamentary election, setting out priority actions to do just that.
We are calling for the next government to deliver a programme for change that is designed to improve health and wellbeing for all, reduce social and health inequalities and protect environmental sustainability.
Seven Priority Areas for Change
The Call to Action identifies seven priority areas for change:
- Ensure health in all polices
- Create a wellbeing economy
- Promote the best possible start to life for all
- Improve our places and communities
- Safeguard our climate and environment
- Tackle the commercial determinants of health
- Shift resources toward prevention
- For each of these priority areas we identify specific policy actions that are within the powers of Scottish Government.
A Robust, Collaborative Process
The Call to Action was over a year in development. The Advocacy subgroup of the Committee of the Faculty of Public Health in Scotland developed it in consultation with public health colleagues across Scotland. This included:
- A survey of all FPH members in Scotland to identify priority areas of focus
- A workshop at the FPH conference to work up policy actions
- Consultation with public health experts in each priority area
- A final survey of FPH members in Scotland in which over 89% supported all the proposed policy actions.
This shows that public health professionals across Scotland agree on what must be done.
The Call to Action is being disseminated widely. We have shared it with all political parties as they develop their manifestos and will share with all the new MSPs when the next parliament is created. We hope public health colleagues will help spread it further by:
- Sharing it with colleagues,
- Emailing the link to your own MSP and ask if they support these actions, using this template letter.
- Sharing it on social media
By taking these priority actions, the next Scottish Parliament can place health, fairness, and sustainability at the heart of Scotland’s future policy landscape.
