§ 27. Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what will be the main policy priorities of the Minister responsible for public health over the next year; and if he will make a statement. [430]
§ Ms JowellI shall be working to carry forward the commitments made in the manifesto, to attack the root causes of ill health. I shall set new goals for improving the people's health which recognise the impact that poverty, poor housing, unemployment and a polluted environment have on health. I plan to outline the new public health strategy in early July.
Our clear commitment to public health issues has already been signalled in the Gracious Speech with the announcement that we shall be publishing later this year 56W a White Paper on ways of reducing death and illness caused by smoking and a draft Bill to ban tobacco advertising. In the summer we shall be holding a summit on tobacco and smoking
I shall be working closely with colleagues in other Departments to take forward our commitments on food safety and use of lottery funds for health projects.