Policy position and submissions

Context

Each year, millions of lives in the UK are impacted or cut short from harm caused by the effects of three modifiable risk factors - tobacco, alcohol and overweight/ obesity. Collectively the risk factors are responsible for tens of thousands of cases of cancer in the UK annually, while also increasing the risk of other largely preventable conditions including cardiovascular disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, liver disease and mental health conditions. While each risk factor increases the risk of disease on its own, the risk accumulates with multiple risk factors. The impact is felt disproportionately in more disadvantaged groups, where rates of smoking, harmful drinking and excess weight are higher, and multiple risk factors are clustered. Addressing risk factors now can reduce subsequent co-morbidities, keeping people well and prospering and reducing the NHS and social care burden.

To date, government policy has been siloed, with significant progress made on addressing the upstream drivers of smoking, but not replicated to the same extent on alcohol and obesity, largely due to an ingrained narrative that these are entirely poor behaviour/ lifestyle choices rather than the result of unhealthy environments.

ASH, the Alcohol Health Alliance (AHA) and the Obesity Health Alliance (OHA) are working together, funded by a project grant from Cancer Research UK, to make the case for a more joined-up approach to prevention, accelerating action on smoking, alcohol and obesity. This document sets out our collective vision and policy asks.

Our Vision

A healthier and more prosperous nation with reduced levels of preventable disease achieved by the government taking an ambitious and coherent approach to address the systemic drivers of harms from smoking, alcohol and obesity.

Policy Asks

• Set out a prevention vision with short and long-term targets for reductions in the prevalence of smoking, alcohol consumption and obesity rates.
• Publish roadmaps committing to evidence-based approaches to reduction of harm from smoking, alcohol consumption and unhealthy diets utilising fiscal measures, marketing and availability restrictions and improved access to treatment.
• Join up policy approaches across risk factors where feasible (e.g. extending junk food marketing restrictions to alcohol) and consider the co-benefits of policy to reduce alcohol consumption on smoking and obesity prevalence
• Government to consistently adopt language that highlights the wider building blocks of health (including commercial) and avoid focusing on personal responsibility.
• Protect public health policymaking from the vested interests of health harming industry stakeholders by ensuring full compliance with Article 5.3 and developing and adopting new guidelines to limit alcohol and food industry engagement and require transparency at all levels of government including advisors and parliamentarians.