Title: QUEST: QUantifying Equitable Solutions To prevent non-communicable diseases
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: This grant is funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) which is administered by the Medical Research Council on behalf of the UKPRP’s 12 funding partners: British Heart Foundation; Cancer Research UK; Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; Health and Social Care Research and Development Division, Welsh Government; Health and Social Care Public Health Agency, Northern Ireland; Medical Research Council; Natural Environment Research Council; National Institute for Health Research; The Health Foundation; The Wellcome Trust. VISION: Our multi-disciplinary consortium will address and shape the prevention agenda, producing world-leading evidence to help reduce both premature non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and associated inequalities, by 33% by 2030. By integrating stakeholder perspectives, best evidence and a novel systems approach into our innovative, quantitative policy models, we will identify the three most equitable prevention strategies, then help translate this compelling evidence into policy and practice. CHALLENGE:NCDs generate a huge and unequal disease burden, costing the UK economy approximately £100bn annually. Primary prevention is thus essential to address the “Big Six” upstream NCD drivers: inequity, poor diet, tobacco, alcohol, inactivity and air pollution. However, effective action is hampered by complex underlying systems, and by the evidence/policy gap. One promising new avenue involves combining a systems approach with comprehensive policy modelling. PROJECT MANAGEMENT: Led by Capewell, our multidisciplinary QUEST consortium integrates leading researchers from the Universities of Liverpool plus York, Stirling, London (Imperial and LSHTM), the UK Health Forum (Knowledge Broker), and a dozen partners including Microsoft, PHE, NICE, IFS, charities and local authorities. SCIENTIFIC RATIONALE: Our unique selling points include co-production of innovative, inequalities policy modelling and a Knowledge Broker with exceptional translational reach into UK policy and practice. To test our new approach, we will focus initially on three illustrative policies (marketing to children, alcohol minimum unit pricing [MUP], and income support), then later assess diverse others. We will work with research users to: DEFINE their policy and evidence needs, then apply a systems approach. Integrate these stakeholder perspectives and evidence into our comprehensive policy models, then DEVELOP and compare potential equity benefits when simultaneously addressing each of the “Big Six” upstream NCD drivers. Help our influential Knowledge Brokers TRANSLATE the three most equitable, costeffective, sustainable, politically and legally feasible NCD prevention strategies into policy and practice.


Research activity codes: 3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING;3.2 INTERVENTIONS TO ALTER PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS;8.3 POLICY, ETHICS AND RESEARCH GOVERNANCE
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE