p u b l i c h e a l t h 1 2 9 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 2 9 1 e2 9 2

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

Public Health journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/puhe

Editorial

Politics, policies and public health

Food is essential to the sustainability of the species: all species. What we eat is no doubt one of the major determinants of human health, both at individual and population levels. The contemporary global epidemics of obesity and diabetes have much to do with food policies and with our access to ever increasing amounts of complex processed foods. So food policy, whereby governments influence what reaches consumers, is a crucial aspect of public health policy. This issue contains a very informative series of papers originating from New York, under the guidance of our Guest Editors, Sue Atkinson and Nick Freudenberg, which explores the nature and recent evolution of food policies, with comparisons covering several nations. As the northern hemisphere welcomes Spring, we in the UK are getting close to a General Election, which is predicted to produce a ‘hung’ parliament where there is no clear majority of MPs amongst the elected members and the outcome in terms of leadership and future alliances between political parties is hard to assess. As always, the National Health Service becomes a political football at this time, with endless opportunities for both criticism and applause, but sadly with the emphasis predictably on shroud-waving. In whose hands is the NHS safe, we are asked? The cynics, including ourselves we admit, will say that the NHS is safe in the hands of no politician: indeed, there is a strong case for depoliticising health services, and whole-heartedly returning to the core vision of maintaining universal coverage, free at the point of use, that we hold so dear in the UK and is still the envy of much of the world. Of course, no serious politician is about to recommend the dissolution of the NHS, viewed by much of the population as a ‘national treasure’; but which of these politicians, if any, will respond to the recent call1 by the NHS Chief Executive, for substantial further investment considered essential to maintain and sustain the service? There is strong support across the political spectrum for integration of health and social care services and the recent announcement of an integrated service for the city of Manchester,2 will be watched with interest, assuming the proposal survives beyond the upcoming election in May. Independent, robust evaluation of the Manchester project will be crucial and we really hope the necessary arrangements are in place to ensure this happens. Whilst the focus in the run-up to the UK General Elections tends to include healthcare, perhaps curiously public health

gets less media attention and is not viewed as politically so sensitive. Since April 2013, local public health departments in England have been based in Local Government and so the public health teams have had to learn to work with elected members in an explicitly political environment. A recent survey by the Royal Society for Public Health3 suggests that they are becoming more comfortable in this environment, and, indeed, there was substantial optimism that public health decisions were not being overly influenced by political considerations, which bodes well for the future, assuming an incoming government does not reform the system too fundamentally. All in all, the influence of domestic and global policies on health, whether direct or indirect, is a mixed picture: it could be a massive force for good e what a tragedy if that opportunity is forgone.

In this issue We are delighted to publish in this month's issue a series of papers on food policy, brought together by our hardworking guest editors, Sue Atkinson and Nick Freudenberg, to whom we are most grateful. The original concept for the series came from Sue's time as visiting professor at City University New York and it is great to see the series come to fruition. The theme of food policy is continued in a paper that examines voluntary salt reduction strategies in the UK and USA. A review paper focuses on the application and limitations of the concept of avoidable mortality in relation to immigrant groups in Europe. Two papers on tobacco look at opposition to raising taxes and restricting advertising from Argentina and exposure of young people to environmental tobacco from water pipes from Lebanon, respectively. We then present an evaluation of health behaviour maintenance interventions; and an international view of causal factors in cardiovascular disease and diabetes mortality. We complete this issue with a look at trans-Tasman mortality and a paper on loneliness and health in Eastern Europe.

292

p u b l i c h e a l t h 1 2 9 ( 2 0 1 5 ) 2 9 1 e2 9 2

references

1. NHS England. NHS five year forward view. NHS. Available online at: http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ 5yfv-web.pdf; October 2014 [last accessed 12th March 2015]. 2. Greater Manchester Combined Authority. Caring for greater manchester together, February 2015. Available online at: http:// www.agma.gov.uk/gmca/gmca-devolution-agreement1/caringfor-gm-together/index.html (Last accessed 26th March 2015). 3. Royal Society for Public Health. In good health: public health teams in local authorities, Year 2. RSPH. Available online at: http://www.rsph.org.uk/filemanager/root/site_assets/our_ work/reports_and_publications/publichealth_03.02.15.ind.2_. pdf; February 2015 [last accessed 12th March 2015].

F. Sim P. Mackie The Royal Society for Public Health, John Snow House, 59 Mansell Street, London, E1 8AN, United Kingdom E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Mackie) Available online 8 April 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2015.03.012 0033-3506/© 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Politics, policies and public health.

Politics, policies and public health. - PDF Download Free
163KB Sizes 0 Downloads 8 Views