Improving the health of the whole population and reducing health inequalities particularly for those with the poorest health, should be an objective for the whole of government says a new report published today by the independent Council for Science and Technology (CST). Acknowledging that the Government is already committed to health improvement as a key priority, the report, 'Health Impacts - A Strategy Across Government', sets out a number of recommendations on how all government departments can incorporate health issues when developing and delivering their policies.
Recommendations include:
- More resources should be devoted to ensuring that national data on the health of the population is more comprehensive and robust, providing the strong evidence base necessary for good policy-making across government;
- Delivering health improvements cannot be achieved if it is seen as the business of the Department of Health alone. A joint approach between different government Departments is needed.
- Two things are needed - first, government departments need to work with the Department of Health to make sure the best evidence is available about health impacts, relevant to that department's policy areas. Second, mechanisms for joining up databases across government - set out in an earlier CST report on Personal Information - will be crucial and need to be put in place
- Improved training is needed for government policy-makers, across all departments, in the wider determinants of health and the use of evidence to assess them. The CST is the government's top-level advisory body on science and technology policy issues. Its programme of work identified that the way health issues are considered across Whitehall is a key issue in the delivery of improved health across the population. It established a working group, under the leadership of Professor Janet Finch (Vice-Chancellor of Keele University).
Professor Finch said:
"An important part of CST's remit is to provide advice to the Government on making more effective use of research and scientific advice in the development and delivery of policy and public services across government.
"Government is rightly making 'the health of the population' an important policy priority, and CST feels strongly that it has an important contribution to make on how best to deliver on these aspirations. Our recommendations should complement a range of important initiatives already commissioned by the Department of Health.
"Our recommendations set out ways in which policy making can be more joined up through ensuring that all Departments support improved health for the population by taking health impacts into account in policy making".
Caroline Flint, Minister for Public Health, also welcomed the report.
Ms Flint said:
"Health considerations are a vital component of policy-making across government as a whole. Improving the health of the population means that the health agenda must be the business of all departments. The work that CST has done is therefore very timely and I very much welcome the report."
Notes for Editors:
The membership of the Council for Science and Technology (CST) appointed by the Prime Minister. It is co-chaired by Sir David King, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, and Sir Keith Peters.
The report 'Health Impacts - A Strategy Across Government ' is available from http://www.cst.gov.uk.
The Health Impacts sub-group of the CST comprises Professor Janet Finch (sub-group convenor), Dr Mark Walport, Sir Keith Peters and Sir John Beringer.
CST's remit is to advise the Prime Minister and the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales on strategic issues that cut across the responsibilities of individual government departments. CST organises its work around five broad themes (research, science and society, education, science and government, and technology innovation) and takes a medium to longer-term approach. Further information can be found on the Council's website: http://www.cst.gov.uk.
