Alarm bells rang in the public health community when Andrew Lansley announced last summer that leading food and alcohol companies were being invited to join a "partnership" with government to help address the obesity and alcohol epidemics.
As further details of the Public Health Responsibility Deal for alcohol emerge, much through investigative work by the Guardian, the bells ring ever louder.
The Public Health Responsibility Deal, part of the government's "big society" idea, is just one of several such deals. For alcohol and obesity, it brings together large numbers of food and alcohol company representatives with far fewer government and public health representatives in a series of "networks" charged with encouraging and enabling consumers to adopt better diets and drink sensibly. However, full details of their function or how they relate to broader public health policies have yet to emerge.
The health secretary originally suggested that in return for providing funding these companies could expect "non-regulatory approaches". It is now becoming clear, for alcohol at least, that Lansley could more straightforwardly have promised "ineffective approaches". Policies known to reduce harmful alcohol use have apparently been precluded from the deal, while those with negligible impact are central to it. While the government's announcement of minimum alcohol pricing seemed more promising, the level at which this is being set also suggests limited commitment to protecting public health where this conflicts with commercial interests. > > > > Read More
