Upon entering the conference, I was greeted by a large amount of media and cameras, although, thankfully, none were for me! The conference was much bigger than I had anticipated and unlike anything I had attended in the past – I’ve presented at conferences such as the European Congress on Obesity and the Health Enhancing Physical Activity conference.
There were different halls and arenas where exhibitions, meetings and fringe events were held. The National Farmers’ Union of England and Wales had a large tractor in the exhibition hall, and another organisation had a double decker bus. There was a great atmosphere with each exhibitor eager to share their priorities for the new government.
In the evening, we attended a talk by The Vegan Society, with strong debates on what constitutes a healthy and sustainable diet. We met our first MP, Dr Simon Opher, and gave him our Policy priorities to prevent cancer.
The costs of prevention
Bright and early on Monday morning, I headed back to the conference arena in anticipation of a busy day ahead and had a 45-minute wait in the rain to clear security.
First on our agenda were sessions hosted by IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research) and the Health Foundation on the government’s plans for health and care with Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. Due to the delay in getting into the conference hall, I headed to this event 45 minutes early, which was a blessing. Shortly after I arrived, all seats were taken, meaning many people had to stand at the back, with most spectators standing outside with the hope of listening to the event.
One key message from Streeting’s talk was the economic cost of ill health, particularly unemployment due to ill health, with the government needing to take a whole of society approach to tackle this.
How can we improve health?
The next event was hosted by Nesta, a UK innovation agency for social good, on: Shift to prevention and solutions to improve health. A key message for me was the need for political bravery. Nesta presented a range of policy innovations which, it estimated, could reduce obesity by 23% through creating targets for retailers. But that would require taming industry! Is there enough political will?
Governments know what they should be doing but, often, it’s not the most favourable option due to a whole host of reasons – including financial cost. We need a “health in all policies” approach if we’re going to truly tackle the economic aspects of ill health.
The evening ended on a high when Kate and I attended a reception hosted by the Children’s Charities Coalition with speakers including Andrew Gwynne MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care, and Janet Daby MP, Minister for Children and Families. Once the speeches ended, Kate and I headed in Gwynne’s direction with the hope of giving him our Policy priorities to prevent cancer, as his ministerial portfolio covers many of the policy areas we work under such as obesity, alcohol and physical activity. The stars aligned and we were able to talk to Gwynne and share our briefing. He agreed to meet us after the conference back in London.
Closing remarks
The final day saw less rain and Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, deliver his speech.
The final fringe event I attended was hosted by the Recipe for Change Campaign and Diabetes UK on how Labour can achieve its ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children. The main takeaway was ensuring prevention is embedded into all aspects of policy outside of health, so, including prevention in housing and children services, for example.
Overall, the conference was very eye-opening and certainly a great way to make connections with key organisations and people. I believe it’s been a worthwhile visit and helped to raise the profile of World Cancer Research Fund and the work we do to prevent cancer. And it was great to hear about the new government’s commitment to prevention. However, we will have to work together to ensure the words turn into action!
> Read our Policy priorities to prevent cancer
On the blog
> What does a Labour government mean for cancer prevention and public health?