RSPH In Conversation With… Professor Sir Michael Marmot

The Royal Society for Public Health (http://www.rsph.org.uk), with support from the Philipp Family Foundation, has launched a series of podcasts, designed to tease out some of the key issues facing Public Health today, not just in the UK, but around the world.

In the first interview, RSPH is In Conversation With Professor Sir Michael Marmot, who discusses how a health-centred approach to policy-making results in a fairer society for all, illustrated with examples from across the world.

Sir Michael is Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London and is perhaps best known as author of the influential report on health inequalities, Fair Society, Healthy Lives. In this interview, he discusses his research into how social processes impact on the causes of illness, and illustrates how anyone who works with the public can have a positive effect on Public Health.

This series of interviews comes at a time of critical importance, with rates of obesity rising, more stress-related illness than ever before and severe pressure on budgets in all areas of healthcare. Professor Richard Parish, Chief Executive of RSPH, introduces the interviews, setting out the key themes and the interconnection between them. “We are delighted that so many eminent people have been prepared to share their views through these podcasts, and we all believe it is vitally important for the issues around Public Health to be discussed and understood by the widest possible audience. As Local Authorities take on responsibility for this area, there is an enormous opportunity to put health at the centre of policy making, and use scarce funds wisely to improve the health of every community.”

You can listen to the interviews with Professor Richard Parish and Professor Sir Michael Marmot now on the About Us page of the RSPH website. http://www.rsph.org.uk/en/about-us/podcasts.cfm. The next podcast, RSPH In Conversation With Professor Susan Michie, on the subject of Behaviour Change, will be released on July 3rd.