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Directors speak up for public health

Government policies which are worsening health and widening health inequalities have come under attack by senior public health doctors.

The 14 regional directors of public health in England have agreed to lobby Whitehall over key issues where they believe government policy is working against the interests of better health. The issues they will target for action include inadequate sex education in schools, VAT on fuel, and the rise in household water disconnections.

Although the government’s health strategy for England, Health of the Nation, provides the impetus, the doctors will focus on a range of Whitehall departments, not just the Department of Health.

The 14 regional directors of public health last united publicly to oppose government policy last year in a letter to the Times, in which they called on the government to support EC proposals for a tobacco advertising ban.

They believe that highlighting specific issues of concern will be more successful than a wide-ranging approach.

Dr Sheila Adam, public health director for North West Thames region, has spoken out against economic policies which have produced the greatest inequalities in income since records began. In her 1992 annual report she points out that changes in taxes and benefits since 1979 have benefited the rich at the expense of the poor, and contributed to the widening health divide.