UK and US face up to public health crises
pharmafile | March 19, 2004 | News story | |Â Â Â
The UK government has launched a consultation that it hopes will stimulate debate on how best to tackle the growing public health problems of obesity, sexual infections and smoking.
The launch of the 12-week Choosing Health? consultation is an unprecedented move to find answers to some of the tricky questions surrounding public health, including where laws should end and where personal responsibility should begin.
The consultation coincides with growing calls for a complete ban on smoking in public places, a restriction on the advertising of junk food and greater sex education measures to halt the progress of chlamydia and HIV infections in the UK.
Encouraging walking and cycling, and greater access to fruit and vegetables are two positive steps suggested in a recent report by Derek Wanless which urged a new emphasis on more proactive prevention of disease.
"The growing public concern about issues such as obesity, children diet and smoking in public places seems to signal a change in the current climate for public health. This is a welcome and necessary first step towards public engagement," Mr Wanless said.
But he also warned that ultimately it would be up to individuals to decide for themselves whether they want to be "fully engaged" in such a process of health improvement.
Health Secretary John Reid said: "With more doctors, more nurses, more beds and more hospitals, our staff have made huge strides in transforming the NHS. This means real improvements in health – like a 10% drop in cancer death rates and a fall of more than 23% in heart-related deaths since 1996.
"But I admit there are still worrying problems in preventable conditions like obesity and sexually transmitted infections. And more can be done on smoking."
So far ministers have been less than enthusiastic about banning things like smoking in public places and junk food advertisements, fearing a public opinion backlash.
The consultation will ask individuals questions on what they eat and how they spend their time at work and home and for leisure.
A primary aim of the government new drive is to reduce the inequalities between regions and socio-economic groups – one statistic showed that men in Manchester were likely to die on average eight and a half years earlier than men in Rutland.
It will be the biggest consultation exercise of its kind and it is hoped that people from all backgrounds, from industry, sport and the media to the NHS and the general public, will contribute.
According to the Liberal Democrats the report was a "coded but damning indictment" of the Government's public health record.
Paul Burstow, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, said: "The NHS is poorly equipped to lead the public health drive. Report after report after report won change this unless ministers start delivering a sustained public health strategy."
Meanwhile, the US Government is facing up to its own public health crisis, most notably the rise of obesity to become one of the nation biggest killers.
Health Secretary Tommy Thompson has launched a new national education campaign and a research strategy in tackling deaths due to poor diet and physical inactivity, which have risen by a third in a decade.
"Americans need to understand that overweight and obesity are literally killing us," he said. "To know that poor eating habits and inactivity are on the verge of surpassing tobacco use as the leading cause of preventable death in America should motivate all Americans to take action to protect their health.
"We need to tackle America weight issues as aggressively as we are addressing smoking and tobacco."
The campaign has coincided with the US House of Representatives passing the so-called Cheeseburger Bill, a new law that would protect producers of food and non-alcoholic drinks against frivolous lawsuits from people claiming damages for their obesity.
The implications of the new public health drive for the pharmaceutical industry are not entirely clear, with medication often seen as a diversion from tackling poor lifestyle.
A number of new treatments to help people lose weight and stop smoking are in the industry pipelines, including Sanofi-Synthlabo's Acomplia (rimonabant) which could tackle both problems simultaneously.
Newly published phase III trial data showed the drug helped patients lose an average of 9kg (20lb) in a year, while a separate trial showed it doubled the chances of smokers quitting in the short term.
The trials are expected to be completed by the end of 2004, with the company hopeful that the drug could be a big earner when it reaches the market.
