29.04.16
PHE promise new strategies to promote healthy lifestyles in 2016-17
The new strategic plan from Public Health England (PHE) has been published, promising a range of strategies to tackle illnesses including childhood obesity, diabetes and drugs and alcohol abuse.
PHE pledged that in the next year it will support the government to develop new strategies on tobacco control, illegal drugs, biosecurity, life chances and reducing the disability employment gap, as well as in delivering the delayed childhood obesity strategy.
It also said it will provide estimates of the number of children affected by a parent’s drug or alcohol abuse and publish an independent evidence-based report on alcohol.
The PHE strategic plan comes as new figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre show that 58% of women, 65% of men and 33% of Year 6 children are overweight or obese.
As part of the commitment to promoting public health, PHE said it would relaunch the Change4Life campaign, continue the One You campaign, create an Information Service for Parents and Start4Life campaign for maternal and early years health, and create digital content and apps to promote healthy lifestyles.
It will also pilot new approaches to dementia and antibiotic resistance awareness campaigns.
In partnership with the NHS, PHE set targets of 10,000 patients in the Diabetes Prevention Programme, completing the roll-out of the bowel scope screening programme, extending the screening intervals in the diabetic eye programme, expanding flu vaccination to all children aged 2, 3 and 4 and school years 1, 2 and 3 and developing a national Mental Health Prevention Concordat programme by summer 2017.
PHE is also going to complete the development of the National Infection Service and begin developing a national centre of expertise for public health science, which is due to become operational between 2019 and 2024.