The University of Bristol, in partnership with the Universities of Bath, West of England, Manchester, Reading and Cardiff and Bristol City Council and Greater Manchester Combined Authority, has been awarded £6.6 million by the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) to tackle unhealthy urban planning and development linked to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, obesity, poor mental health, cancer and diabetes.
The funding is part of a £25 million UKPRP investment awarded to eight projects, including SPECTRUM and TRU3D, that aim to address the bigger picture factors behind the prevention of NCDs which make up the vast majority of illnesses in the UK and account for an estimated 89 per cent of all deaths.
Professor John Coggon will be working on the consortium TRU3D, as will the Law School's Professor of Law Paddy Ireland. Led by Professor Matthew Hickman (Professor in Public Health and Epidemiology in Bristol Medical School), the project has been awarded £6.6 million funding over five years, and will launch 1 October 2019. The programme will research urban planning and development systems with a view to embedding the prevention of risk factors associated with NCDs and health inequalities in decision-making on planning.
Professor of Health Law and Policy Keith Syrett is co-investigator on SPECTRUM. The new consortium, led by Professor Linda Bauld (Edinburgh University), has been awarded £5.9 million funding over five years and will launch on 1 September 2019. The programme will be investigating the commercial determinants of health and health inequalities, (i.e. the approaches used by commercial producers of tobacco, alcohol and food to promote products, influence policy and people's choices, which in turn impacts on our health as a population).
"The TRU3D project offers significant opportunities, through highly collaborative research, better to understand and address how urban environments impact our health. I'm excited that as part of this we will see how law and governance are key determinants of health, and crucial to achieving a healthier, fairer society.
I'm also delighted that to explore these questions we'll be appointing a new researcher and a PhD student to work on the project from within the Centre for Health, Law, and Society." - Professor John Coggon
“There is growing interest in the impact of the commercial determinants of ill health upon populations and the ways in which these reinforce existing inequalities. But addressing these is never easy, because of the powerful business interests at play. The SPECTRUM project represents an important step in meeting this difficult challenge, and I am delighted that the role of law and regulation has been recognised as a vital part of the enterprise.” - Professor Keith Syrett