On Tuesday 10th July, the Southgate Institute hosted a Policy Club on the Commercial Determinants of Health. The event was chaired by Prof. Fran Baum , Director of the Southgate Institute, and featured presentations from Prof. Sharon Friel, co-director of the Centre for Research Excellence in the Social Determinants of Health Equity with Prof. Baum, who presented on the role trade practices play in determining health, Southgate research associate Dr. Julia Anaf who presented Southgate research piloting methods to assess the health impacts of corporations, and Prof. Elizabeth Handsley, from the College of Business, Government, and Law, and Southgate Institute Executive member, who discussed possibilities for regulating corporations for health.
Michael White, Executive Director at SA Network for Drug and Alcohol Services, then joined the panel to provide a non-government organisation perspective. Representatives for industry were invited to be on the panel, but declined.
The discussion the event generated emphasised the importance of considering commercial determinants of health as a critical factor impacting population health, and the need to consider corporate practices and regulation that would contribute to better population health.
Twitter coverage of the event can be viewed by searching the hashtag #commercialdeterminants
