Health on the agenda

The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has certainly got a busy agenda. Having suffered a setback in his attempts to increase the presence of the private sector in the NHS he now needs to focus on some major challenges. A recent Lancet report showed that the UK has fallen behind many countries in managing preventable illnesses and premature death, despite life expectancy increasing.

Heart disease, stroke, cancer, lung and liver disease account for over 150,000 deaths of under 75s, one fifth of which are avoidable. At 74,000 deaths per year, 200 per day, coronary heart disease is the single biggest killer, associated with smoking, being overweight and high blood pressure, which affects one in three.

In a study for BMC Medicine research found people eating more than 160g of processed meat a day - roughly two sausages and a slice of bacon - were 44% more likely to die prematurely than those eating about 20g or less. This does create real challenges for the poorest families who often live in communities without good quality fresh options nearby and even if they do have those choices very often can't afford the healthier selection.

There has been much progress on smoking, especially since it was banned in the workplace and public buildings, but this remains a major contributor to early deaths and it is young women who appear particularly vulnerable to this habit, in part thanks to creative marketing and packaging. Meanwhile liver disease has increased as a contributor to premature death directly as a result of increases in alcohol misuse.

There is a case to argue that industrial sectors that promote choices that lead to ill-health, processed foods, tobacco and alcohol among them, should be subject to further additional tax regimes and increased regulation, given the scale of health problems they contribute to.

Preventing poor choices and facilitating better choices are also much more effective than trying to deal with the consequences. Many schools do educate children about health eating and the importance of exercise, but the home and community don't always facilitate good options.

The work of the TUC and the NHS, as part of the Better Health at Work programme, has shown the workplace can make an important contribution to good health choices too. The workplace can be a useful space for raising awareness about good health choices, leading to not just health improvements for the workforce, but also reduced absenteeism and increased productivity.

Conducting health checks at work too is an effective way of reaching a large section of the community who are often extremely reluctant to visit their GP. Only around 2 per cent of people who are eligible for health checks actually have them and there is plentiful evidence that this is a valuable way of detecting illnesses early.

Health is a hugely important concern for everyone, it is important that all stakeholders, including employers and trade unions, are involved in efforts to tackle these areas where the UK is clearly failing.

Kevin Rowan

Regional Secretary

Northern TUC