Inventing our future Collective action for a sustainable economy

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2.5 Against this backdrop, the White Paper sought to ‘make it easier for individuals to make healthy
choices’. In addressing health inequalities, the solution was to make it easier for individuals from
disadvantaged groups to exercise healthier choices. From this position, three key principles were
developed: informed choice (people want to make their own decisions about choices that will
affect their health); personalisation (the support provided by government needs to recognise the
different circumstances of particular groups, and specifically, the difficulties faced by disadvantaged
groups); and working together (delivering the strategy will require effective partnerships across
communities, involving local government, the NHS, advertisers, business, retailers, the voluntary
sector, media, and faith groups). Six priorities were then identified as over-arching:
• Reducing the numbers of people who smoke
• Reducing obesity and improving diet and nutrition
• Increasing exercise
• Encouraging and supporting sensible drinking
• Improving sexual health
• Improving mental health.
2.6 In terms of implementation, key roles were identified at national, regional and local levels.
In the context of a Regional Health Strategy, it is worth dwelling on the latter two:
• At a regional scale, Regional Public Health Groups were identified as having a key role in integrating
and co-ordinating activities at the regional level, identifying regional issues and priorities for health
and presenting information on health at the regional level. But alongside these, Government
Offices for the Regions, Regional Assemblies and Regional Development Agencies were also
recognised as playing an important part in shaping the social determinants of health through
their influence over strategy on transport, employment, the environment and regeneration.
At a regional scale, Choosing Health was therefore seen as a multi-disciplinary endeavour
• Similar arguments were made at a local level. Choosing Health identified that local authorities and
PCTs share a responsibility to improve health and well-being by leading community partnerships;
delivering on national targets; identifying local needs; and commissioning and delivering services.
There are various structures for partnership working, including LSPs, Children’s Trusts and Crime
and Disorder Reduction Partnerships. Increasingly, Local Area Agreements will provide a key vehicle
for delivery planning. These are structured around four functional blocks: children and young
people; safer and stronger communities; healthier communities and older people; and economic
development and enterprise. The read-across to Healthy Futures is considerable. Hence through
Local Area Agreements, LSPs will have a key role in delivering this Strategy (see Chapter 9).
Frameworks/plans for public health in the East of England
2.7 In parallel with the emergence of Choosing Health, work has been underway on the production of various
regional plans concerned with different priorities identified in the White Paper (although work on some
of these regional documents preceded the White Paper’s publication). With a focus on the broader
determinants, Healthy Futures will complement and support their delivery. Three key documents are:
• Smoke Free East: A Tobacco Control Framework for the East of England 2005-2010, which
has recently been completed 12
• Physical Activity Action Plan: this has been developed by the Regional Physical Activity Forum
12 Available at www.go-east.gov.uk/goeast/public_health