City’s health schemes on show

Mar 26 2008 by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL will showcase public health achievements to the world when the city hosts the largest conference of its kind in the UK next week.

Over 1,000 delegates from the UK and overseas will hear from experts in climate change and air pollution, patient safety, obesity, drugs, sexual health, and alcohol abuse at the BT Convention Centre on April 1 and 2.

Among key debates at the 16th UK Public Health Association (UKPHA) Annual Public Health Forum will be official strategy for tackling the obesity epidemic and the impact of climate change and unsustainable development on health.

To mark Liverpool’s status as European Capital of Culture the conference will promote the use of the arts for healing, with workshops including Poetry Not Prozac: How shared literature can help wellbeing.

The conference will also hear from Dr Will Cavendish, director of obesity for the cross-government obesity programme and Dawn Primarolo, Minister for Public Health.

Delegates will also discover what is being done to cut the NHS’s carbon footprint and how to help five million vulnerable adults who have difficulty understanding basic health information.

Delegates will be introduced to dynamic schemes for improving health in the North West, notably in Liverpool, where robust campaigning is tackling alcohol and drug misuse among young people.