Health and Social Care Committee’s themes for prevention
Ultimately, preventing ill-health not only benefits individuals, their families and communities, but also reduces demand on our already stretched NHS and social care services, and has the potential to save billions of pounds.
Prof. Jim McManus
ADPH President
In response to the Health and Social Care Committee’s announcement on the Prevention Inquiry, Prof Jim McManus, President of the Association of Directors of Public Health, said:
“We welcome the Committee’s recognition that we need to tackle the causes of ill-health and focus on prevention.
“The ten areas announced by the Health and Social Care Committee are all critical determinants of health and are all areas that DsPH provide effective services for on a local level.
“We are ready to work with the Government to improve lives and are keen to share our experience of how existing successful local measures – which are helping people live healthier for longer – could be used to inform a national prevention strategy.
“Ultimately, preventing ill-health not only benefits individuals, their families and communities, but also reduces demand on our already stretched NHS and social care services, and has the potential to save billions of pounds.
“It will therefore be important that the Government ensures that the preventative services, which can make this saving a reality, are adequately funded in future, something that the Public Health community has long since campaigned for.”