CPHVA logo

Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association
Back to home pageGeneral information about CPHVAMembership information Contact CPHVA staffSearch CPHVA site for general informationHelp on navigating the siteLinks to other useful sites Enter members' area

Health visiting information
School nursing information District nursing information Practice nursing information Countries-Scotland, Wales and Northern IrelandPublic health information Clinical effectiveness information Courses, grants and reportsCPHVA responses to government and other reportsCPHVA and non-CPHVA eventsPress releases and media relationsCPHVA campaignsSpecial Interest GroupsFrequently asked questionsIndex to site
Link to Amicus the union

 

Press Release Press Release Press Release Press  Release   

 

29 June 2004

 

 

GOVERNMENT URGED TO BEEF UP PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES
Ban on workplace smoking called for
 

The government is being urged to beef up its public health initiatives, including imposing a ban on workplace smoking and curbing junk food advertising aimed at children.

The call comes from the Community Practitioners’ and Health Visitors’ Association, which was commenting on the consultation document, Choosing Health.

The CPHVA is concerned that Choosing Health is focusing on individuals rather than the broader, inter-agency approach to public health. ‘The document has taken a rather dictatorial approach with no real sense of a partnership approach.’

The CPHVA would like to see:

  • the government following the examples of the Republic of Ireland and Norway in imposing workplace bans on smoking

  • more emphasis placed on mental health as this impacts on many other health problems, including obesity and work-related stress

  • stronger action to tackle food advertising directed at children and young people, with an emphasis on the obesity crisis facing the UK and celebrity endorsements of ‘junk foods’

  • use of the media to emphasise diet and other health messages as a counter to some of the controversial health claims put forward by commercial food companies

  • a reversal of the decline in the public provision of playing fields and playground space in schools, bearing in mind that inner cities will be more deprived than more affluent suburbs

  • better information for individuals being provided through telephone helplines and NHS Direct, to help them make informed choices, particularly for groups where English is not the first language, people with learning disabilities, older people and the young

The CPHVA strongly feels the work of health visitors and school nurses in the community should be given greater recognition and that they should get similar resources as high profile schemes, such as Sure Start.

The CPHVA said: ‘Health visitors and school nurses are ideally placed to work with children and families at a local level and should be key players in any community development work.’

The CPHVA’s Lead Professional Officer (Health Visiting), Obi Amadi said: ‘Since 1997, we have fully supported the government’s public health programme. However, we would like the government to go further and faster down the road to better public health, than Choosing Health indicates will be the case.’

‘The fact that obesity is turning from a problem into a crisis is a telltale sign why more stringent public health measures are needed. This is not the case of ‘the nanny state’ taking over peoples’ lives, but common sense so that people live longer and healthier.’

 

-ends-

NOTE TO NEWS EDITORS

Shaun Noble Communications Officer ( (020) 7939 7043

mobile ( 07768 69 39 40

CPHVA press releases can be seen on the CPHVA website: amicus-cphva.org

The CPHVA - the UK’s third largest nursing union - represents health visitors, school nurses, practice nurses, district nurses and nursery nurses working in the community in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The CPHVA is a professional section of the Amicus trade union

Top