The Chancellor’s Spring budget is imminent and the message from the public health and health sectors is that poverty is a public health crisis, which he would be wise to target if the economy is to improve.
A letter signed by 60 organisations and individuals, including the Association of Public Health Directors (APHD), leaders of medical colleges and charities has been sent to the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt urging him to put tackling obesity and other public health issues at the heart of his budget for the sake of the economy.
The letter says that poor health is “one of the greatest threats” facing Britain today and warns of it damaging the economy “from the size and strength of our labour market, to productivity, to growth and GDP”.
However, what needs to be tackled, according to director of the Faculty of Public Health Professor Kevin Fenton and Professor Paul Roderick FFP Chair, FPH Poverty Special Interest Group in a recent blog, is the root cause of the public health crisis – poverty.
Full story on The Lowdown, 26 February 2024