11.H. Round table: Moving the agenda forward on the Commercial Determinants of Health

Commercial actors play a vital role in society, yet there is growing evidence that they are responsible for escalating levels of avoidable ill health, planetary damage and social and health inequity. These problems are increasingly referred to as the ‘commercial determinants of health’ (CDOH). A recent Lancet Series on CDOH brought together a global intergenerational and multidisciplinary team of researchers and thought leaders to help consolidate thinking around the CDOH. It defined the CDOH as “the systems, practices and pathways through which commercial actors drive health and equity”. This workshop brings together one of the three lead authors from the CDOH Lancet series, with leading members of the civil society and intergovernmental organisations (including the WHO CDOH Lead and WHO European lead for NCDs) to discuss and engage with the audience on this complex and urgent issue. By bringing together these experts, this workshop explores the role that different agencies can play in tackling the CDOH. The workshop will consist of a presentation based on the lessons from the Lancet Series on Commercial Determinants of Health followed by a panel discussion among participants enabled by the workshop chair who will encourage audience discussion and participation. Discussants will be asked to comment on challenges and considerations for addressing CDOH in the WHO European Region, the role of civil society in the EU policy making context and the way forward in a global agenda. By convening these experts, the workshop aims to engage the audience in a discussion that builds their understanding of the CDOH and what they can do to respond to this problem. While much of the Lancet series is quite conceptual in its approach to CDOH, this workshop supports the public health community to move beyond simply understanding the systematic nature of the CDOH. In particular, the workshop aims to support researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to collaboratively develop possible solutions to CDOH and practical next steps to drive the CDOH agenda forward in the European Region. We recognise that this is a large amount of content to discuss in this workshop; however, we see this workshop (and the lancet CDOH series) as initiating a larger and ongoing conversation within the public health community. KEY MESSAGES: • CDOH is a complex and systematic issue that is hurting the health of people in Europe with low awareness of how they manifest and impact public health issues. • Despite the complexity of CDOH, there are practical measures that the public health community can implement at local, national, regional, and global level to tackle them. SPEAKERS/PANELISTS: Anna Gilmore University of Bath, Bath, UK Gauden Galea WHO, Beijing, China Monika Kosinska WHO, Guildford, UK Florence Berteletti EuroCare, Brussels, Belgium