MSPs call for urgent action to improve Scotland’s health, supported by evidence from SPS academic
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A group of cross-party MSPs has called for urgent action to tackle the damage to people’s health caused by smoking, junk food and alcohol, supported by evidence from School of Social and Political Science’s (SPS) Dr Nason Maani.
The five MSPs have backed a report from the Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Alliance in Scotland, which highlights the dangerous links between unhealthy lifestyle habits and NCDs – a group of non-infectious diseases that includes heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic lung disease and diabetes.
These diseases are a major cause of ill health and are thought to be responsible for 53,000 deaths in Scotland, or 85 per cent of all deaths. With an estimated one in five deaths from NCDs in Scotland caused by tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food and drinks, the report urges the Scottish Government to take the lead in helping to create a healthier society.
The report is signed by MSPs Foysol Choudhury, Sandesh Gulhane, Emma Harper, Gillian Mackay and Carol Mochan, who have joined the NCD Alliance in calling on the Scottish Government to do more to meet its targets of halving childhood obesity, creating a tobacco free generation, and reducing the consumption of alcohol.
As things stand, deaths from obesity are forecast to rise by five per cent by 2026 in Scotland, the 2034 Tobacco-Free Generation pledge is off track, and the wealth divide in the dangerous consumption of alcohol is expected to double by 2026.
Putting strong prevention measures in place now has the potential to reduce health inequality across Scotland. The harm caused by tobacco, alcohol and junk food hits deprived areas the hardest, so urgent prevention measures are vital to reduce Scotland’s 25-year gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least affluent communities.
Dr Maani, who is a lecturer in inequalities and global health policy at SPS, presented evidence on commercial drivers of ill health at an evidence session of the cross-party enquiry.
Dr Maani was also part of a speaker panel at a Holyrood Policy event to mark the launch of the report in partnership with NCD Alliance Scotland, alongside colleagues from Diffley Partnership, SHAAP and Obesity Action Scotland. The cross-party enquiry report was launched on 20 September.
Pictured above: Dr Nason Maani (2nd from left) at the Holyrood Policy event in partnership with NCD Alliance Scotland