-----Original Message-----
From: The Health Equity Network (HEN)
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joe
Farrington-Douglas
Subject: FW: Report of Public Health Commission set-up by Andrew Lansley

Fyi.
Joe.

UNIFIED MESSAGE NEEDED TO BOOST HEALTH, SAYS REPORT

POLITICS Health
Jul 1, 2009 2:07:24 PM
By Beverley Rouse and Daniel Bentley, Press Association

Page 1

People are not choosing healthier lifestyles because inconsistent and
confusing information is being given out through public health
initiatives, a report said today.

The Public Health Commission, set up by shadow health secretary Andrew
Lansley, said messages need greater clarity and consistency to help
people make the right choices.

Its report - We're All In This Together, Improving the Long-Term Health
of the Nation - set out its own recommendations for tackling health
issues such as rising obesity levels and alcohol abuse.

It also said partnership between Government, business and the Third
Sector could bring significant and sustainable improvements to the
nation's health.

Recommendations included:

:: A single, branded health campaign promoting three key messages about
what makes up a healthy diet, understanding the relationship between
calories consumed and calories burned and responsible drinking;

:: The provision of consistent nutritional information about the food
people eat, whether they buy it in a supermarket or in a restaurant or
pub;

:: Standardising the portion sizes on which nutritional information is
based;

:: Using sales data from supermarkets, gyms and restaurants to evaluate
whether Government campaigns are changing behaviour;

:: Extending restrictions on advertising food to children to cover all
new and non-broadcast media;

:: Amending the tax system to support all forms of physical activity
through a reduced VAT rate.

Speaking at the report's launch today, Mr Lansley said he was unable to
immediately offer support to all of the proposals without costing them.

But he backed the idea of a "unified message" based around a healthy
diet, the "energy balance" and responsible drinking.

He called for the extension of nutritional information to food eaten out
and details of calories in alcoholic drinks.

The shadow health secretary said he agreed the food industry needed to
go further in areas like reducing portion sizes and restricting
marketing to children.

Mr Lansley said there was not one piece of legislation that could on its
own eliminate obesity, for example.

"So we have to look at how we can improve public health by the
collective action of a host of agencies," he said.

He said the "post-bureaucratic age" meant that top-down Government
legislation was no longer adequate.

Public Health Commission chairman Dave Lewis said: "Every year, more
than 80,000 people die prematurely from diet or alcohol-related ill
health.

"It's a fact which speaks for itself - quite clearly we have a serious
challenge which needs to be urgently confronted.

"People get lots of information about their health - at work, in
schools, in their communities and through the media - but they're not
getting clear and consistent support and sufficiently motivating
messages.

"Because the initiatives we have aren't strategic, they don't fit
together and they aren't working."

Mr Lewis, who is also chairman of Unilever UK & Ireland, added: "What's
missing is a holistic approach, one that has strategic intent,
executional detail and wide ownership by those organisations and
individuals with consumer reach.

"We need an approach that provides a framework for action against a
single goal: improving the long-term health of the nation.

"Business and Government working in partnership and taking a shared
responsibility can make this big difference by helping to educate and
inform people through clear and consistent messages, and by providing
the opportunities to enable people to make the right lifestyle decisions
for a longer, healthier life."

The Public Health Commission was established in August last year to
examine the possibility of a "responsibility deal" between Government
and the private sector to achieve public health improvements.

It was made up of experts from business, the Third Sector and academia.

end


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