The UK’s public health system is broken

In recent years, the UK’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, has derided efforts to improve the population’s health by improving eating habits and reducing alcohol intake, calling such public health activity “neo-puritanism” and “finger wagging.”1 Her description of those endeavouring to tackle obesity as “an army of nannies and naysayers” bodes poorly for the future of the public health system and the health of the people of the UK.The extent of the health calamity in England is unmistakable. The previous pattern of slow, steady improvement in life expectancy halted 10 years ago, and health inequalities have grown.2 Since 2010, successive Westminster governments have dismantled and defunded public health rather than recognising the importance of a healthy population and a robust and effective public health function. Important alterations include the transfer of local directors of public health from the NHS to a much reduced and poorly resourced role within a simultaneously…
Read Original Article: The UK’s public health system is broken »