The Public Health Responsibility Deal: how should such a complex public health policy be evaluated?

The Public Health Responsibility Deal: how should such a complex public health policy be evaluated?

BACKGROUND The Public Health Responsibility Deal (RD) in England was launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership which aims to 'tap into the potential for businesses and other influential organisations to make a significant contribution to improving public health by helping us to create this environment'. It has come under criticism from public health advocates and others, who have suggest...

How should public health policy be developed? A case study in European public health.

BACKGROUND Article 129 of the Treaty of Rome (as amended at Maastricht) gave new powers to the European Union (EU) institutions to develop and implement public health programmes at EU level. The authors were invited by the cabinet of Commissioner Flynn to assist the Commission by developing new policy proposals in certain specific areas. METHODS The approach was agreed with officials of the P...

The Public Health Responsibility Deal: brokering a deal for public health, but on whose terms?

UNLABELLED Coalitions of multinational food and drink businesses have pledged to reformulate their products and to market them responsibly. Largely business-led and self-regulated, the integrity of these voluntary initiatives has been questioned. The Public Health Responsibility Deal in England is an example of a voluntary initiative that is government-led. Does this approach provide evidence t...

How should ethics be incorporated into public health policy and practice?

How should interventions to reduce inequalities in health be evaluated?

OBJECTIVE The effectiveness of interventions which have been proposed or are currently in progress to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in health is largely unknown. This paper aims to develop guidelines for evaluating these interventions. APPROACH Starting from a set of general guidelines which was recently proposed by a group of experts reporting to the national Programme Committee on Socio...