Public-Private Partnerships With Unhealthy Commodity Industries: Are They Undermining Real Progress in NonCommunicable Disease Prevention?; Comment on “Competing Frames in Global Health Governance: An Analysis of Stakeholder Influence on the Political Declaration on Non-communicable Diseases”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

Abstract

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) and whole-of-society approaches are increasingly common in public health promotion and non-communicable disease prevention, despite a lack of evidence in favour of their effectiveness in improving health outcomes. While PPPs may have advantages, they also give industry actors more influence over the design and implementation of public health strategies and interventions. Partnering with unhealthy commodity industries in particular – including the alcohol and ultra-processed food and beverages industries – can pose significant risks to public health due to these industries’ deep-rooted conflicts of interest. In this commentary, I reiterate Suzuki et al.’s message about the importance of assessing and managing conflicts of interest before engaging with non-state actors through PPPs or other forms of engagement.

Keywords

References

  1. West R, Marteau T. Commentary on Casswell (2013): the commercial determinants of health. Addiction. 2013;108(4):686-7.
  2. Suzuki M, Webb D, Small R. Competing frames in global health governance: an analysis of stakeholder influence on the political declaration on non-communicable diseases. International Journal of Health Policy and Management. 2021. doi:10.34172/IJHPM.2020.257
  3. Moodie R, Stuckler D, Monteiro C, Sheron N, Neal B, Thamarangsi T, Lincoln P, Casswell S, Lancet NCD Action Group. Profits and pandemics: prevention of harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-processed food and drink industries. The Lancet. 2013;381(9867):670-9.
  4. Marks JH. The Perils of Partnership. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2019.
  5. Kickbusch I, Gleicher D. Governance for health in the 21st century. WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2012.
  6. United Nations. Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development [Internet]. Ney York: UN. [No date; cited 2020 May 09]. Available from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/globalpartnerships/
  7. Ralston R, Hill SE, Gomes FD, Collin J. Towards preventing and managing conflict of interest in nutrition policy? an analysis of submissions to a consultation on a draft WHO tool. International Journal of Health Policy and Management. 2021 May 1;10(5):255-65.
  8. Rinaldi C, Van Schalkwyk MCI, Egan M, Petticrew M. A framing analysis of consultation submissions on the WHO Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol: Values and Interests. 2021.
  9. Mialon M. An overview of the commercial determinants of health. Globalization and Health. 2020;16(1):1-7.
  10. Parker LA, Zaragoza GA, Hernández-Aguado I. Promoting population health with public-private partnerships: Where’s the evidence? BMC Public Health. 2019;19(1):1438.
  11. Knai C, Petticrew M, Douglas N, Durand MA, Eastmure E, Nolte E, Mays N. The Public Health Rresponsibility Deal: Using a systems-level analysis to understand the lack of impact on alcohol, food, physical activity, and workplace health sub-systems. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(12):2895.
  12. McCambridge J, Mialon M, Hawkins B. Alcohol industry involvement in policymaking: a systematic review. Addiction. 2018;113(9):1571-84.
  13. Burton R, Sheron N. No level of alcohol consumption improves health. The Lancet. 2018 Sep 22;392(10152):987-8.
  14. Anderson P, Chisholm D, Fuhr DC. Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of policies and programmes to reduce the harm caused by alcohol. The lancet. 2009;373(9682):2234-46.
  15. Maani N, Van Schalkwyk MC, Petticrew M, Ralston R, Collin J. The new WHO Foundation—global health deserves better. BMJ Global Health. 2021;6(2):e004950.
International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Articles in Press, Corrected Proof
Available Online from 30 August 2021

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 11 June 2021
  • Revise Date: 09 August 2021
  • Accept Date: 25 August 2021
  • First Publish Date: 30 August 2021

Share

How to cite

Statistics