29.B. Workshop: Moving upstream to advance understanding of & ways to address the commercial determinants of health
Authors:   Organised by: University of Bath (UK),   Chair persons: Mark Petticrew - UK, Lucinda Westerman - UK
Published: October 2020

Abstract
Poor health is increasingly determined not only by the products but by the behaviours of major corporations, notably but not exclusively, unhealthy commodity industries. Models of the determinants of health have been successfully used to advance understanding of the broad range of factors that affect health, and guide policy-makers to entry points for public health interventions. However, the existing and widely used models of social determinants insufficiently address the pervasive influence of commercial actors, such as transnational corporations, within their conceptual frameworks. While conceptual models of the commercial determinants of health and taxonomies of unhealthy commodity industry political activity have been proposed and now applied to diverse industries, there remains a need for such work to fully reflect the extent of private sector political activity. In particular, such models must recognise the corporate sector's upstream influence in shaping, for example, the overarching political environment, trade and governance structures which have both facilitated the spread of NCDs and hindered policy progress in addressing them. Going further still there is a need to recognise that these corporate practices are both enabled by and drive the modern capitalist system which in turn poses threats to human and planetary wellbeing. It is increasingly important, and indeed urgent, for public health professionals to recognise and address these issues.
This workshop therefore aims to: identify limitations in existing models of the determinants of health;present new models and taxonomies which can be used to better understand and address the commercial determinants of health;present evidence on the behaviour and practices of unhealthy commodity industries that inform these latest models and taxonomies, pulling together the “silos” of evidence across, for example, tobacco, food and alcohol;examine the corporate sector's, often neglected, upstream influences over policy infrastructure, trade and governance;thereby advance understanding of how unhealthy commodity industries drive ill health and the range and nature of interventions required to address such behaviours and practices;explore how we go further still in understanding and addressing the health challenges posed by the modern capitalist system.
The workshop brings together leading scholars in the field and will involve 4 overview presentations followed by detailed discussion where audience participation will be actively invited.

Key messages
Health is increasingly determined by the products, behaviours and practices of major corporations. We urgently need to understand and address these if we are to improve health and reduce inequalities. This workshop will propose new models for understanding how corporations influence health, focusing particularly on upstream influences on politics, trade & governance & how these can be addressed.