When Theresa May first became prime minister, she pledged that she would look after the sick and poor, and yet within three weeks her previous adviser Nick Timothy had slashed David Cameron’s evidence-based obesity plan from 37 to 13 pages, cutting out many vital policies. I was therefore astonished to hear that following the PM’s stripped-down Queen’s speech, not a single mention was given to strengthening the government’s plan to curb childhood obesity – the biggest public health crisis that we face.
We now call on the prime minister for an urgent meeting with her new health policy unit to rewrite and restore the ineffectual obesity plan that she issued last summer and start saving the lives of those who are socially deprived and help to rescue the NHS from bankruptcy.
Public health is hugely underfunded, considering its cost-effectiveness. It’s amazing that Theresa May can find a billion pounds to form a government but can’t find a million pounds to prevent millions of UK citizens from becoming obese or developing type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure.
Graham MacGregor
Professor of cardiovascular medicine at Queen Mary University of London and Chairman of Action on Sugar
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