The Wellcome Trust has published a report on the state of public health sciences in the UK and made recommendations on measures to enhance the impact upon the public health.
A working group was convened to address public health sciences and how they relate to public health practice in the inter-related areas of health services, health protection and health improvement.
The report notes that impressive achievements in the biomedical sciences and medical care can obscure the fact that the circumstances in which people live, whether these circumstances are under their personal control or not, are still the major determinants of health.
There is an urgent need to place far greater emphasis in healthcare on the prevention of illness and the promotion of good health rather than focusing predominantly on treating ill-health.
Conclusions
The Working Group concluded that a concerted programme was needed to bring together three basic components:
Routine and other research data that provide the basis for understanding the causes of disease, the determinants of population ill-health and the benefits of treatments and health improvement programmes.
People competent and entitled to generate, manage, access, and interpret such data.
A framework for implementing the outcome of public health sciences research through policy implementation.
Recommendations
The Working Group recommends:
Establishing a top-level funders’ group to develop a strategy for securing the future of public health research.
Identifying the regulatory barriers that may hamper this type of work.
Investing in the long-term in the academic infrastructure at undergraduate, postgraduate, research fellow, lecturer and professorial levels.
Establishing Public Health Centres to bring together the different scientific disciplines needed to address public health issues.
Developing a more informed dialogue between scientists, the public and the media to convey a better understanding of health risks.
Developing policy based on evidence and not on assumptions.
The Wellcome report, Public Health Sciences: Challenges and Opportunities.
