Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109964

Fiona M. Sim, MB, BS, FRCP, FFPH, Public Health Editorial Office, Royal Institute of Public Health, 4 Church Close, Radlett, WD7 8BJ, England, +447796266263, fmsim@aol.com

Integrating evidence based public health and health care in the primary care setting

During 2004, the UK Treasury jointly with the Department of Health, commissioned a report on public health, with a view to reporting evidence on how the health of the population could be improved within finite resources. The review was strictly to examine public health infrastructure and delivery systems, and not health care services. It was led by an independent former banker and statistician, Derek Wanless, who had undertaken a previous review into the health care system and concluded that only a scenario of full engagement of the population with its own health could lead to an affordable and adequate health care system within twenty years. He concluded that although we are on track to make steady progress, this would be quite inadequate if existing national health improvement targets are to be met: for those to be achieved, only the ‘fully engaged' scenario would suffice. Shortly after publication of the Wanless Report, the government published its public health policy, which built upon Wanless' findings and focuses in particular on the need to tackle major emerging lifestyle-determined diseases, such as those associated with obesity and sexual health. As a public health physician now turning my attention to working with patients and health care provider colleagues in a primary care setting, this paper identifies some of the challenges encountered whilst striving towards the ‘fully engaged' scenario at the grass roots and points to some early potential solutions.

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