The title of the 2025 all-island conference was ‘Turning the Tide: Tackling the commercial and political determinants of health through policy and practice’.
The half-day conference explored how public health and allied health professionals, academics, policymakers and researchers can respond to the challenges posed by commercial and political determinants or factors that shape population health and wellbeing.
These commercial factors involve private sector or commercial activities, such as the marketing and promotion of unhealthy products or lobbying, while the political factors relate to how political systems and policies influence our health and wellbeing.
According to a 2024 World Health Organization (WHO) report, nearly 7,500 deaths per day in Eu-rope are attributed to commercial determinants, such as tobacco, alcohol, processed food, fossil fuels and occupational practices.
The conference also considered the rise in misinformation and disinformation in the public health arena and what we can do about it.
The 2025 conference was jointly opened by the Minister for Health in Northern Ireland, Mike Nesbitt MLA, and the Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy in Ireland, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor TD.
The following keynote speakers addressed this years’ conference:
Anna Gilmore, Professor of Public Health, Director of the Tobacco Control Research Group and Co-Director Centre for 21st Century Public Health at the University of Bath, who discussed ‘Lessons from tobacco control for and from the commercial determinants of health’.
Norah Campbell, Associate Professor, Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin, who discussed ‘Food and Power in Ireland: Problems and Leverage Points’.
Peter Cunliffe-Jones, Visiting Researcher, University of Westminster, talked on the theme of misinformation and disinformation in the public health arena.
IPH Chief Executive Suzanne Costello chaired a panel discussion featuring the keynote speakers, Professor Diarmuid O’Donovan, Director of National Health Improvement with HSE Public Health, and Dr Orna Young, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Fact Check NI.
The event was organised by the Institute of Public Health, Public Health Agency, Department of Health in Northern Ireland and Ireland, Queen’s University Belfast, Ulster University, University College Cork, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, University of Galway, University of Limerick, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and HSE Strategy & Research.
