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European Public Health Alliance

European Public Health Alliance. Health and the internal market Presentation by Tamsin Rose, General Secretary, 8 September 2004

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European Public Health Alliance

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  1. European Public Health Alliance Health and the internal market Presentation by Tamsin Rose, General Secretary, 8 September 2004 • A network of 102 non governmental and not-for-profit organisations across Europe working on health and health-related issues. Our mission is to improve the health of European citizens and to increase their participation in EU policy-making

  2. Structure of the presentation - Health status in Europe - Risk factors and health trends - Lifestyle factors and disease trends - EU role as a regulator - Some questions to debate

  3. The good news Major improvement in health over 150 years. A doubling of life expectancy achieved by • Hygiene: (water, air, food) • Legislation, eg on safety seatbelts and helmets, control of pollutants • Prevention: vaccination and screening • Information and education • Improved healthcare: technology and treatments

  4. The bad news • Much of current ill health and early death is preventable • Extensive health inequalities • New health threats (HIV, SARS, drug resistant TB) • Demographic changes • Rising healthcare costs

  5. Is modern life killing us? Majority of deaths are lifestyle related • Cardiovascular disease – improve diet, increase physical exercise, stop smoking, reduce alcohol consumption, reduce stress • Cancer – as above but also tackle environmental pollutants (air, water, soil contamination, chemicals) • Tobacco, alcohol, food, chemicals and consumer products are all goods regulated by the EU internal market

  6. Consumer products – safe? • Pesticide residue in fruit and vegetables • Pthalates in childrens toys • Flame-retardants in household furniture • Chemicals in hair dyes, cosmetics and tattoo inks • Anti-bacterial and microbicides in mattresses

  7. What causes death and ill health?

  8. Now a b c Good Poor Compromised Future expectations of health

  9. Obesity – a clear example of manufactured risk • Obesity has increased by 10-40 % in Europe in the last decade, in the UK it has doubled • 75 % of salt in our diet comes from processed food • Soft drinks are the leading source of added sugars in the US diet. Increase in diabetes and obesity has coincided with a 61 % leap in consumption by adults and a doubling of consumption by children between the late 70s and mid 90s. Uk evidence kids drink an average of 4.7 litres of soft drink per week, of which only 10% are fruit juice or water. • Most alco-pops contain as many calories as sugary soft drinks, link between binge drinking and obesity • Fat per 100g is a lot cheaper than other sources of energy

  10. The context of food consumption • 800 to 1 ratio : For every 1 pound spent on health education on promoting healthy diets, 800 is spent by the food industry 95 % of which are for products that encourage weight gain (confectionary, snacks, fast food.) • Fruit industry spends only 2% on advertisements of the amount spent by snack industry • Food advertisements were shown more frequently during children's programmes (45-58% of all advertisements) than during adult programming (21%). • The overwhelming majority of the foods advertised during both adult (86%) and children's (95-99%) programmes were high in fat, sugar and/or salt.

  11. Fireworks – a case study of regulating harmful products • Minimum safety requirements for products • Limit availability (points of sale) • Limit accessibility (age limits) • Limit visibility (bans on advertising) • Warnings (on packets) • Restrictions on use (timing, space) • Public education campaigns • Enforcement and policing • Can we use this logic for tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy foods?

  12. Sharing responsibilities The individual's challenge to live a healthy life, in the face of a rising gradient of societal pressure to live unhealthily. While ultimately individuals must meet this challenge themselves, government can play a role both by providing individuals with support as they climb, and by lowering the gradient against which they are climbing.

  13. Some points to debate: • Health as a human right but also as a duty to society • What are we prepared to pay for quality healthcare systems • Is poor health an acceptable price to pay for consumer choice • How should corporate profits on unhealthy products be balanced with health costs

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