Professor Dame Anne Johnson DBE FMedSci, Chair of the Academy of Medical Sciences working group project on Improving the Health of the Public in 2040 said:
“I am pleased to see the opportunity to respond to the government’s consultative prevention green paper, Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s. The publication highlights the importance of this topic which we addressed in The Academy of Medical Sciences’ “Improving the health of the public by 2040” report. Our report, however, emphasised that a comprehensive prevention strategy must address investment and action across local and national government and other sectors, on the wider determinants of health, alongside what can be achieved by personalised prevention in health and social care.
“We welcome the acknowledgment in the green paper of the crucial role of high-quality research to achieve a transformative change in prevention. There must now be a focus on generating the best possible evidence base to guide investment of public money with the aim of creating healthier, fairer futures for patients and the public. Research must underpin the identification, adoption and evaluation of effective interventions at individual- and system-level, bringing together the expertise of a full range of disciplines.
“I look forward to helping realise the ambition to make the UK ‘the world leader in public health and prevention research’ by working with members of the UK Strategic Co-ordinating Body for Health of the Public Research, established following established following the Academy’s report on Health of the Public in 2040.”
Read more about the Academy's “Improving the health of the public by 2040” report here