Key points
- Obesity has been rising sharply since the 1970s and is a dominant public health issue. The 2008 Health Survey for England calculated 38 per cent of adults were now overweight and 24 per cent obese. Meanwhile the Foresight report Tackling Obesities: Future Choices, predicts that by 2050, if no action is taken, 60 per cent of men, 50 per cent of women and 25 per cent of children will be obese. This would mean steep rises in heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes and place a significant financial burden on the NHS as well as the wider economy.
- The average annual consumption of alcohol per person doubled from less than six litres to more than 11.5 litres between 2000 and 2008. The rate of alcohol-related deaths has doubled since 1991. In 2006/7 the annual cost of alcohol to the NHS in England was estimated at 2.6 billion. In 2005 it was estimated that alcohol was 62% more affordable than in 1980.
- In 2001 the Department of Health launched a 10-year programme to tackle sexual ill health and modernise sexual health services. There has been some progress, including an overall drop in teenage pregnancy rates (although the rates rose slightly in 2008), the introduction of chlamydia screening and quicker access to genitourinary clinics. But the number diagnosed with HIV and STIs continues to rise.
- In July 2007 there was a complete ban on smoking in public places in England, and the provision of quit smoking services.
- The coalition government’s white paper Equity and excellence, Liberating the NHS proposes the creation of a new Public Health Service to ‘integrate and streamline’ health improvement bodies and to take responsibility for vaccinations, screening programmes and to manage public health emergencies
- Under these proposals responsibility for local health improvement will transfer from PCTs to local health authorities, who will appoint a Director of Public Health jointly with the Public Health Service.
- In addition, the budget for public health will be ring-fenced by the Department of Health which will include health improvement budgets allocated on the basis of relative population health need and including a ‘health premium’ designed to reduce health inequalities
For more facts on public health in England see our slidepack: How healthy are we? A high-level guide
