6.B. Workshop: Partnerships with the private sector to tackle NCDs - do healthy profits trump healthy people?
Authors:   Organised by: European Health Forum Gastein,   Chair persons: Robert Madelin - Belgium, Dorli Kahr-Gottlieb - Austria
Published: October 2020

The determinants of health and well-being are partly driven by the interests - narrowly financial? - of big corporate players. Tackling the root causes of threats to health and well-being is often at odds with the business interests of economic operators and lobbies, and even in the era of Sustainable Development Goals, it is not yet clear for most citizens how companies hold themselves to account on non-financial impacts. Their explicit role, level of funding and tactics are therefore not yet always open to the high level of transparency that may be required to involve these “giants” trustfully in the health policy process. At the same time, as health policy seeks to shape market conditions, we actively want economic operators to be stakeholders ever more directly affected by public policy.

Data from the Global Burden of Disease Study shows an overwhelming strain in the EU as a result of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with estimates that they cause over 91% of deaths and almost 87% of Disability-Adjusted Life-Years. Risk factors for NCDs are associated with the production, marketing and consumption of commercially produced food and beverages, particularly those containing sugar, salt, trans unsaturated fatty acids, alcohol and tobacco. But the food and drink industry is also the EU's biggest manufacturing sector, and in half of Member States represents the biggest employer in manufacturing. The power of markets and business in health - the 'commercial determinants' of health - are undeniable in this context, and the political difficulty of regulating such behemoth market players is all too clear. Policy decision-makers face a complex challenge in trying to effectively address the root causes of NCDs, while navigating strong transnational interests, lobbies and marketing impacts of industry stakeholders.

The objective of this workshop is to discuss issues around the right framing for any partnership working with industry to tackle NCDs. Under what conditions might all stakeholders usefully sit at the table across divides in interests and values, and are there lines to be drawn as to who we are willing to partner with, when, how and on which policy issues? What are the risks, and how might It be it possible to balance these? Do we need new ways of partnership working? Can we find co-benefits and learn from innovative models? Or are the profit-driven motives of the commercial sector sometimes simply incompatible with health interests?

Format-wise, two speakers will first present different perspectives on engaging with the private sector on NCDs - one supportive and the other more cautionary. The second segment of the workshop will comprise a panel discussion, incorporating the contributions of online attendees concerning their experiences of working on this topic and questions for panelists submitted through the webinar too's Q&A chat function.

Key messages

Corporate strategies and products strongly influence consumption patterns and impact health worldwide. Health actors must be risk-aware of partnership work with the private sector, while harnessing opportunities to engage with socially innovative business models to maximise positive health impacts.