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Thursday, 29 December 2005 11:03

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Legislate for better health says leader of Scotland's doctors

One of Scotland's leading doctors has today (Thursday 29 December 2005) called upon the Scottish Executive to introduce a system of routine health impact assessments to be applied to all policies and legislation.

The British Medical Association believes that this move would best serve Scottish health priorities and would have a greater impact on improving the health and lives of the population, rather than focussing on politically driven targets which fail to address the fundamental problems at the root of Scotland’s poor public health record.

Dr Peter Terry, chairman of the BMA in Scotland said: "Scotland's doctors have welcomed the Health Minister’s commitment to introduce a long term public health strategy but this can only be achieved with a co-ordinated approach across all of the Ministerial portfolios of our administration.

"Many factors in society contribute to the public‘s health and by integrating health assessments into education and social policy, for example, every decision made would be an investment in the future health of our population. This approach would make a real difference to people’s health, more so than the introduction of politically driven targets.

"The NHS alone cannot deliver the wider Executive responsibilities for improving the public’s health. Linked strategies across departments are needed to make a real and consistent difference to health."

Dr Terry highlighted the recently published Kerr Report on the health service in Scotland which marked a turning point towards greater collaboration within the health service and across wider public services.

He said: "We have seen this approach work in some areas of policy-making, but achieving co-ordinated working on the ground between health, education, social services, housing and transport policy is a challenge that requires sustained cross-departmental collaboration and the development of synergistic policies.

"By conducting a routine independent assessment of public health impact as part of the legislative process, we can ensure that the Scottish Parliament is making laws that are improving the lives and health of its population."

Looking forward to the year ahead, Dr Terry congratulated Scotland’s leaders for its courage in legislating for smoke free public places, coming into force in Spring.

"2006 could signal a real shift in Scotland’s health with the ban on smoking in enclosed public places, which comes into effect in March. The benefits of this will be evident from day one," he said.

"Scotland is leading the rest of the UK with its bold and comprehensive smoke-free legislation while Ministers at Westminster dither over inappropriate concessions. MPs should be looking north to follow our example rather than conceding to the arguments of the tobacco industry. Our Parliament should be proud of its achievements in health over the last 12 months – let us continue to make efforts to improve our national health in the coming years. We can all do better."

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