During this year’s The World Economic Forum in Davos, Philip Morris, a global leader in tobacco industry, presented the new White Paper, “Public Health—Much Harder than Rocket Science”. New White Paper looks at the dynamics between consumers, corporations and authorities across a range of global public health issues. It is based on a recent global survey conducted by IPSOS.
Consumers all over the world want their governments to do better at solving major public health issues, according to the IPSOS survey of 31,000 respondents across 31 countries commissioned by PMI. In the survey, respondents were asked how important they believed it is for governments to dedicate time and resources to nine global health issues: air pollution, mental health, STDs, healthier food products, opioid abuse, smoking and alcohol abuse, unwanted pregnancies and obesity.
When asked about the role of technology and innovation in addressing these issues, 91 per cent of respondents believed technology and innovation had an important role to play. However, respondents did not evaluate government performance highly; more than half (56 per cent) believed the authorities had done a poor job of ensuring access to the latest innovations and advancements that can improve public health.
Introduced by PMI in Davos, “Public Health—Much Harder than Rocket Science,” reviews further the discussions surrounding these important public health issues and the interplays between public vs. private impact and human behavior. It concludes that a collaborative approach is possible: Corporations themselves may well be able to help address some of the public health issues relating to their products. And, authorities would be well advised to tap into corporate resources and use their ingenuity and self-interest to create compelling solutions. With the right discussion and oversight, corporations can be reliable partners in helping governments deal with some of today’s public health issues.
“Given the scale of these public health challenges, it’s unrealistic to expect advice and exhortations from health authorities alone to make the difference,” argues Marian Salzman, Senior Vice President, Global Communications at PMI. “To truly help large numbers of people make the changes they want and need will take a combination of evidence-based public policy initiatives, new technologies and new products. The public deserve—and are asking—to hear about better
Photo: weforum.org