International Journal of Health Policy and Management

International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Paradigm Shift: New Ideas for a Structural Approach to NCD Prevention; Comment on “How Neoliberalism Is Shaping the Supply of Unhealthy Commodities and What This Means for NCD Prevention”

Document Type : Commentary

Authors
Ashley Schram
Sharni Goldman
School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
10.15171/ijhpm.2019.105
Abstract
It is a well-documented fact that transnational corporations engaged in the production and distribution of health-harmful commodities have been able to steer policy approaches to address the associated burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). While the political influence that corporations wield stems in part from significant financial resources, it has also been enabled and magnified by what has been referred to as global health’s neoliberal deep core, which has subjected health policy to the individualisation of risk and responsibility and the privileging of market-based policy responses. The accompanying perspective article from Lencucha and Thow draws attention to neoliberalism in the NCD space and the way it has historically structured patterns of thinking and doing that foreground economic interests over health considerations. In this commentary, we explore how shifting from a focus on material power to discursive power creates space to see the NCD agenda as a battle of economic ideas as well as dollars, and consequently the importance of public health engagement in the next vision for the economy.
Keywords
Non-Communicable Diseases
Neoliberalism
Health Policy
Subjects
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International Journal of Health Policy and Management
Volume 9, Issue 3
March 2020
Pages 124-127

  • Received Date 25 September 2019
  • Revised Date 24 October 2019
  • Accepted Date 24 October 2019
  • First Published Date 01 March 2020
  • Published Date 01 March 2020