Today the Scottish Government has published its public health priorities for tackling the challenging and persistent health issues in Scotland. FPH members have been working with the Scottish Government Public Health Reform Team throughout the process of development of these priorities, which aim to focus government and public sector services in Scotland in a co-ordinated effort towards a step change in health improvement.
The publication of these national public health priorities is part of a process of public health reform, which will see the creation of a new national public health organisation in Scotland in 2019.
The Committee of the Faculty of Public Health in Scotland (CFPHS) has been keen to endorse this government drive for health improvement, which is very consistent with the priorities identified in the CFPHS Call to action: Healthy Lives Fairer Futures.
Chair of CFPHS, Dr Julie Cavanagh, said: "We applaud the Scottish Government for its focus on these critical areas of health improvement and hope to see a real impact in addressing health inequalities in Scotland in the coming years. We also appreciate the Scottish Government Reform Team's assurance that public health specialist and practitioner work in the domains of healthcare public health and health protection are equally critical to the achievement and maintenance of better public health in Scotland.
"We look forward to working closely with the Reform Team in a mutually agreed process of engagement with the specialty, so that we can make best use of our public health expertise, experience and resources locally and nationally, as Scotland moves forward with an ambitious programme of reform to improve public health."
