Why Isn’t the Nation’s Health at the Top of the Political Agenda?

Every election cycle, the same themes dominate headlines and manifestos: immigration, the economy, taxation, cost of living, crime. But one issue rarely appears with any real weight — the health of the nation.

And yet, poor health underpins so many of the crises politicians claim to be addressing. The cost of living crisis is exacerbated by sickness absence and reduced productivity. Economic growth is stunted when a large portion of the workforce is living with preventable conditions. The NHS crisis is inseparable from obesity, inactivity, and poor lifestyle choices.

So why isn’t population health treated as a national priority?

A Brief Look at the History

Public health has always had a complicated relationship with politics. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, reforms in sanitation, housing, and clean water transformed national health outcomes. These were political interventions born of necessity, not choice.

Since then, political will has wavered. The creation of the NHS in 1948 put treatment, not prevention, at the centre of government focus. Successive governments have introduced piecemeal initiatives — the “Change4Life” campaign, the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, Boris Johnson’s proposed obesity strategy — but very few have been consistently funded, implemented, or allowed time to make a difference.

Unlike the big-ticket issues of immigration or taxation, national health rarely wins votes. It requires long-term investment and consistent cross-party support, two things politics in its current form rarely delivers.

The Overlooked Crisis

The scale of the issue is undeniable. Poor health is not just about personal wellbeing — it impacts the nation’s stability and prosperity:

NHS Costs: Obesity alone costs the NHS more than £6 billion annually, projected to rise to £9.7 billion by 2050 if nothing changes (Public Health England).
Economic Productivity: Ill health costs the UK economy an estimated £100 billion a year in lost productivity, absence, and reduced capacity (ONS).
Sick Days: In 2022, UK workers took 185 million sick days, the highest on record, with stress, musculoskeletal issues, and obesity-related illness leading the way (ONS).
Life Expectancy: Improvements have stalled and in some communities are falling. Preventable lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, and certain cancers remain major contributors.

Politicians talk about boosting productivity, reducing NHS waiting lists, and supporting household incomes. Yet all of these are directly affected by the nation’s health — and the silence on this front is deafening.

Why the Silence?

Several reasons explain why health is often absent from the political agenda:

Short-term political cycles: Politicians work to four- or five-year cycles. Public health change often takes a decade or more. There’s little appetite for initiatives that won’t deliver immediate results.
The responsibility debate: Health is framed as individual choice. Obesity and inactivity are seen as personal failings, not systemic issues that require intervention. This creates political hesitation.
Complexity: Immigration, taxes, and interest rates can be debated with numbers and policy levers. Health is more complex. It requires joined-up thinking across education, housing, transport, and business. It isn’t soundbite-friendly.
Powerful distractions: Brexit, Covid-19, inflation, geopolitical crises — all have consumed political energy in recent years, leaving prevention-focused health policy even further down the list.

Whose Role Should It Be?

The truth is, improving national health cannot fall solely on government or the NHS. It requires a coalition:

Government: To set clear policy, provide funding, and create incentives.
Education: To teach children early about healthy eating, exercise, and lifestyle habits.
Employers: To invest in employee wellbeing, recognising the link between health and productivity.
The fitness industry: To lead by example, deliver accessible services, and reach beyond the 17% of the population already engaged in structured exercise.
Communities: To create local solutions, from walking groups to school outreach.

It is everyone’s responsibility — but it needs to be coordinated, consistent, and sustained.

What Could Change Look Like?

If the nation’s health was prioritised, we could see:

Tax incentives for healthy living: As we have with the cycle-to-work scheme, why not reward those who take part in structured activity or commit to health programmes?
National lifestyle campaigns: Not one-off events like National Fitness Day, but long-term campaigns comparable to anti-smoking initiatives that genuinely shifted behaviour.
Investment in prevention: Shifting just a fraction of NHS budgets from treatment to prevention would create long-term savings.
True collaboration: Engaging independent gyms, private operators, and community facilities alongside public leisure, creating inclusive and scalable solutions.
Integration with education: Embedding health, movement, and nutrition into the school system, so future generations grow up with the right habits.

Final Thought

Immigration, taxation, the economy, the cost of living — these issues dominate political debate. But none of them can be solved without addressing the foundation of national health.

A sick population means lower productivity, higher costs, and shorter lives. A healthier population means economic growth, reduced NHS strain, and communities that thrive.

It is time for politicians, policymakers, and the public to stop treating health as an afterthought and start recognising it for what it is — the foundation on which everything else depends.

Until then, we will continue to patch holes in our economy and services, all while ignoring the root cause.

Inside Health Club

Monday, 15 September 2025