Preventing Ill Health

Monday 30th June 2025 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)]

Today I am updating the House on some of the steps the Government will take to prevent and delay the onset of ill health, thereby restoring the means for people to lead a healthy life in places where it has become most difficult, and in turn reducing pressure on the NHS.

Healthy food standards

Obesity is one of the leading causes of ill health, costing the NHS £11.4 billion per year. Obesity rates have doubled in the last 30 years, and one in five children now leave primary school with obesity. In the 2023-24 school year, the prevalence of obesity was more than twice as high among children living in the most deprived areas as among children living in the least deprived areas. We will only tackle this successfully by taking a whole-of-society approach in which Government partners with industry to drive innovation and give people the power to make healthy choices.

We are announcing plans to work with the food industry to combat rising childhood obesity. Under new proposals, all large food businesses will be mandated to report against standardised metrics on healthier food sales by the end of this Parliament. This will set full transparency and accountability around the food that businesses are selling and encourage healthier products. Publishing this data annually will also support business investors to invest in healthier companies, by seeing which are performing well, encouraging further reformulation and development of new healthy foods.

Using that reporting, we will set new mandatory targets to increase the healthiness of sales in all communities, and will work with the Food Strategy Advisory Board on how to sequence the introduction of this policy. We want to use smarter regulation that makes the most of industry’s innovation and experience. Businesses will have the freedom to decide how they achieve the target—through improving products, introducing new healthier products, or changing loyalty schemes to make healthier products more available, and available to all. Public health experts believe small improvements to the average meal to reduce daily calorie intake by just 40-50 kcals could lead to 340,000 fewer children and two million fewer adults living with obesity.

We will engage with industry closely as we develop and consult on these proposals. We intend to work with all the devolved nations to ensure regulatory alignment for food businesses, and to achieve the maximum reduction of obesity we can across the UK.

NHS weight management services

We will be asking the NHS to do more to support our approach to prevention. To support people already living with obesity, we will double the number of patients referred to the NHS digital weight management programme, offering help proven to deliver results to 125,000 more people every year. Additionally, pioneering relationships with the biggest pharmaceutical companies will be brokered to expand access to weight loss services and treatments across the NHS, ensuring fairer access to weight loss drugs for those who cannot afford private prescriptions.

Vaccines

Vaccinations are, after access to clean water, the most effective public health intervention in the world for saving lives and promoting good health. However, uptake, particularly for children, has been in gradual decline for over a decade. Improving uptake will protect our children from infectious disease, reduce the burden on the NHS, and help consign some diseases to history, such as cervical cancer. To improve access to vaccinations, we are enhancing access to general practices for vaccinations, testing models to deliver vaccinations to some families through health visits, and expanding the role of community pharmacy, including offering catch-up vaccinations to protect against human papillomavirus.

We are expanding the NHS app, so that everyone knows what vaccinations they have had, what they need, and where to get them, at a time and location that meets their needs. Patients will be able to book jabs on the NHS app. Parents will be able to access a new vaccination hub on the NHS app, on behalf of their child, during 2026-27. Finally, we will launch the world’s first gonorrhoea immunisation programme to protect at-risk adults and help prevent the rise of antimicrobial resistance.

Health store app marketplace

We will build a health store app marketplace. We want to empower people to manage their own health and care, putting the ability to treat, manage and prevent conditions into the hands of our population. Successful adoption of digital health technologies across a range of clinical areas including mental health, cardiovascular health and musculoskeletal conditions may lead to improved patient outcomes, reduced waiting times and improved economic activity, by supporting people to stay in or return to work.

The health store will ensure that the products with the best evidence reach the hands of patients, irrespective of where you live across the country. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will play a crucial role in evaluating technologies, guaranteeing clinical effectiveness for patients and cost-effectiveness for the NHS. We will explore central funding for those technologies with an effective evidence base, as determined by NICE, making the NHS an attractive market that centrally supports innovation.

NHS points scheme

We are announcing a new NHS points scheme, which will be developed to reward people for taking positive actions to improve their health. Based on loyalty schemes popular with supermarkets, coffee shops and mobile banking apps, people could receive gift vouchers or discounts at their favourite high-street stores by simply upping their step count or making healthier food choices. We will shortly launch a market engagement process to start the conversation with business about what behaviours could be incentivised.

Musculoskeletal conditions

To further improve how patients in England engage with the NHS, and where it is clinically appropriate for them to do so, patients will be able bypass GPs to directly access specialist treatment using the NHS app, including treatment for MSK, mental health talking therapies, podiatry and audiology services. This will help deliver faster treatment for patients, while enabling GPs to focus on more complex cases by reducing pressure on them.

Tobacco

In addition to the measures set out, the Government are determined to put an end to the harms of tobacco. Smoking is still the biggest killer—it claims around 80,000 lives a year, causes one in four of all cancer deaths in England and kills up to two thirds of its long-term users. Our landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill will help deliver our ambition for a smoke-free UK. It will create a smoke-free generation, gradually ending the sale of tobacco products across the country and breaking the cycle of addiction and disadvantage. The Bill will also strengthen the existing ban on smoking in public places. And while we know vapes are less harmful than smoking and can be an effective quit aid for smokers, we are doing more to protect children from the risks of harm and addiction. The Bill will stop vapes from being deliberately branded, promoted, and advertised to children to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine.

The full set of prevention measures, which will further set out how we deliver healthier, more prosperous lives for all, and help reduce health inequalities, build a stronger labour market and lower NHS demand, will be set out shortly in the Government’s 10-year health plan for England.

[HCWS756]