Campaigning on a public health agenda – Oxford Vision 2020
Most public health statistics worldwide predict pandemic-size growth in chronic diseases by 2020, especially diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, chronic respiratory illnesses and a large number of cancers. Even today, 50 percent of the people in the world die as a result of these four diseases. Those in turn are linked to three risk factors: tobacco use, over-eating and reduced physical activity.
Rather than allowing this devastating scenario,but realising the huge and difficult taks of preventing it, Novo Nordisk founded in late 2003 a global initiative to combat these risk factors and curb the growth of the chronic diseases pandemic. Novo Nordisk both initiated the initiative and continues to provide core funding for its work over the next 3 years.
Oxford Vision 2020, a close cooperation between Novo Nordisk A/S and the universities of Oxford and Yale in support of the World Health Organisation, was launched at a meeting of a broad group of stakeholders; all of whom share the common goal of eradicating the risk factors and blunting their impact on the public’s health.
A new approach needed
The nexus of risk factors and diseases is rising rapidly in all parts of the world, especially in the weaker segments of the developed world and in developing countries. Apart from the human suffering that these chronic diseases will cause, the economic costs will be overwhelming. Many countries will not be able to afford the healthcare costs, which will be compounded by the income lost from those of working age suffering from and dying of chronic diseases.
The increase in risk factors is the outcome of a complex set of global economic, social and cultural factors and trends. However, these are ultimately modifiable behavioural issues, and Oxford Vision 2020 is centred on the belief that both the risk factors and the diseases can be successfully tackled … if all relevant stakeholders come together to implement a broad range of known and innovating public health and other interventions.
Thus, Oxford Vision 2020 has set itself the purpose of bringing together with a common agenda these stakeholders from academia, from different areas of medicine and healthcare, governments, NGOs and business, and enable these people and organisations that do not normally work together to achieve a fundamental change in society and in people’s behaviours toward their health.
Commitment to innovative action
Fifty-three founding member institutions, spanning the governments of China, USA, UK, Canada, Brazil and South Africa, leading universities and academics, the world wide organisations of the medical, nursing and pharmacy professions, as well as leading businesses such as Nestle, PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson and Novo Nordisk, have all committed to a common action plan:
- Build the evidence base. This needs to be broadly based and will include not only the medical and health intervention evidence, but gauging the economic outcomes of neglect of dealing with the risk factors/chronic diseases, as well as describing what works and what doesn’t in public awareness and behaviour modification campaigns.
- Demonstrate impact on public policy. The development of policies to tackle chronic diseases is currently inhibited by lack of political will, lack of knowledge and of funding. Oxford Vision 2020 is sponsoring demonstration projects in developed and developing countries to add to the body of knowledge and to encourage action based on real community-based results. The projects will involve workplaces, schools, health services and other selected settings, and will focus especially on tackling obesity and its causes.
- Communicate and campaign. There are many myths about chronic diseases that need to be dispelled. Some attribute the diseases to self harm and therefore deny the role of public intervention in preventing them. Others promote the fight against infectious diseases as taking priority over chronic conditions. Yet others claim that chronic diseases are conditions of affluence that shouldn’t concern the public in the developing world.
All of these are partial truths and do not stand the test of reality, which clearly indicates that the harm of chronic diseases is already well entrenched globally.
Therefore, communications become a core activity of Oxford Vision 2020, both through its member organisations as well as directly through its interactive web site; through unique publications and assorted materials for effective campaigning.
Oxford Vision 2020 will use the evidence and its muscle to increase public funding for chronic diseases; to influence business strategies of major companies and eventually to promote successful behaviour change strategies.
