New Year resolutions to be funded under public health drive - Millions of people will be given help to stick to their New Year resolution to get fit with free vouchers to attend the gym, go swimming and eat healthy food.
Ministers will today launch a Public Health White Paper which is designed to “nudge” people to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
In contrast to Labour’s “nanny state” approach, the Government wants to provide people with incentives to change their behaviour, with the entire country benefiting as a result of the lower costs of caring for a healthier population.
Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary said that the Government's strategy was intended to improve the health of the nation and reduce health inequalities.
Five million chequebooks will each contain 20 healthy lifestyle vouchers including offers for half-price swimming sessions and reduced-rate gym taster packages
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "We have got to arrive at a point where politicians stop just telling people how to be healthy but actually help them to do it, which is about positive steps on supporting people on things like physical activity as well as necessary interventions."
Among a raft of measures to be unveiled by Mr Lansley are plans for a £250 million scheme to be called “The Great Swapathon,” which will see members of the public trade their lifestyle for a healthier one.
Vouchers will be given out in supermarkets and doctors’ surgeries, as well as being printed in newspapers, which the public will be able to exchange for free gym membership, swimming sessions, and healthy food and drink.
Launched just after the New Year, the Great Swapathon will be funded by the private sector, with firms wishing to offer food vouchers required to pay for the scheme.
Vouchers will be given in chequebook form. Five million chequebooks will each contain 20 healthy lifestyle vouchers including offers for half-price swimming sessions and reduced-rate gym taster packages.
To redeem them, consumers will be directed to a website where they will be able to search for their nearest participating venue, and type in a code to access an e-ticket.
Three million of the voucher chequebooks, containing discounts of around £5 each, will be available in Asda supermarkets, a million more will be obtained through a Sunday newspaper, and another million from GP surgeries, schools and other bodies run by the state.
The White Paper will also include plans for a new contract for dentists, amid complaints that the current one negotiated by Labour removes incentives to improve oral health.
There will be more emphasis on health visitors, who are said to have been “withering on the vine” under the last Government, with funding for 4,200 extra staff.
The Conservatives had pledged before the election to recruit 3,000 more midwives but ministers have recently failed to commit to the promise saying that the latest figures showed the rising birth rate was now stabilising.
Mr Lansley is also expected to announce moves to stop sales of cheap alcohol, to launch a consultation on the introduction on plain tobacco packaging, and draw up measures to encourage businesses to do more to allow women to breastfeed at work.
Local authority funding will be reformed, so that areas with the highest rates of chronic diseases will receive proportionately more money.
Ministers are understood to be content that many of the measures being drawn up now may not see results of decades to come.
A source said: “The Government's tack on public health will switch from 'nannying' under Labour to 'nudging' under the Coalition, with the idea of encouraging people to make healthy decisions on their own without lots of regulation and pressure from Whitehall.
“The aim is to entrench a healthy lifestyle from an early age for the long-term.
“Business will be a lead role in the new persuasive society and have been promised there will not be draconian regulation on things like food formulations, labelling and prices but they will have to play their part and be 'socially responsible’.” ( telegraph.co.uk )
Ministers will today launch a Public Health White Paper which is designed to “nudge” people to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
In contrast to Labour’s “nanny state” approach, the Government wants to provide people with incentives to change their behaviour, with the entire country benefiting as a result of the lower costs of caring for a healthier population.
Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary said that the Government's strategy was intended to improve the health of the nation and reduce health inequalities.
Five million chequebooks will each contain 20 healthy lifestyle vouchers including offers for half-price swimming sessions and reduced-rate gym taster packages
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "We have got to arrive at a point where politicians stop just telling people how to be healthy but actually help them to do it, which is about positive steps on supporting people on things like physical activity as well as necessary interventions."
Among a raft of measures to be unveiled by Mr Lansley are plans for a £250 million scheme to be called “The Great Swapathon,” which will see members of the public trade their lifestyle for a healthier one.
Vouchers will be given out in supermarkets and doctors’ surgeries, as well as being printed in newspapers, which the public will be able to exchange for free gym membership, swimming sessions, and healthy food and drink.
Launched just after the New Year, the Great Swapathon will be funded by the private sector, with firms wishing to offer food vouchers required to pay for the scheme.
Vouchers will be given in chequebook form. Five million chequebooks will each contain 20 healthy lifestyle vouchers including offers for half-price swimming sessions and reduced-rate gym taster packages.
To redeem them, consumers will be directed to a website where they will be able to search for their nearest participating venue, and type in a code to access an e-ticket.
Three million of the voucher chequebooks, containing discounts of around £5 each, will be available in Asda supermarkets, a million more will be obtained through a Sunday newspaper, and another million from GP surgeries, schools and other bodies run by the state.
The White Paper will also include plans for a new contract for dentists, amid complaints that the current one negotiated by Labour removes incentives to improve oral health.
There will be more emphasis on health visitors, who are said to have been “withering on the vine” under the last Government, with funding for 4,200 extra staff.
The Conservatives had pledged before the election to recruit 3,000 more midwives but ministers have recently failed to commit to the promise saying that the latest figures showed the rising birth rate was now stabilising.
Mr Lansley is also expected to announce moves to stop sales of cheap alcohol, to launch a consultation on the introduction on plain tobacco packaging, and draw up measures to encourage businesses to do more to allow women to breastfeed at work.
Local authority funding will be reformed, so that areas with the highest rates of chronic diseases will receive proportionately more money.
Ministers are understood to be content that many of the measures being drawn up now may not see results of decades to come.
A source said: “The Government's tack on public health will switch from 'nannying' under Labour to 'nudging' under the Coalition, with the idea of encouraging people to make healthy decisions on their own without lots of regulation and pressure from Whitehall.
“The aim is to entrench a healthy lifestyle from an early age for the long-term.
“Business will be a lead role in the new persuasive society and have been promised there will not be draconian regulation on things like food formulations, labelling and prices but they will have to play their part and be 'socially responsible’.” ( telegraph.co.uk )
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