In recent years, the UK has witnessed a troubling trend: a steady decline in public health campaign funding. Once a cornerstone of national health strategy, these campaigns — ranging from smoking cessation to mental health awareness — are now underfunded and, in some cases, disappearing altogether. As the public sector struggles to maintain momentum, a new question emerges: who will fill the void?
This shift could present a unique opportunity and responsibility for the pharmaceutical industry and other private sector players to step forward and do more to support the nation’s health in meaningful, transparent ways.
THE DECLINE IN UK PUBLIC HEALTH FUNDING
Between 2015 and 2024, the UK’s Public Health Grant was cut by £858 million in real terms. According to the King’s Fund, this equates to a 10% reduction in spending since 2013/14, with even deeper cuts in the most deprived communities[i]. Services like smoking cessation, substance misuse and sexual health have been hit hardest—despite their proven cost-effectiveness and long-term benefits.
Professor Maggie Rae, President of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Epidemiology and Public Health Section, argues these public health funding cuts hit the poorest hardest. “Despite excellent evidence that investing in public health and prevention saves lives, the UK government has failed to support such investment,” Rae wrote in the 11 November 2022 issue of the British Medical Journal.
The consequences are stark: fewer people are reached by life-saving messages, health inequalities are widening, and the NHS is left to pick up the pieces through more expensive acute care.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Public health campaigns are not just about posters and slogans—they are vital tools for behaviour change, early diagnosis, and disease prevention. The “Be Clear on Cancer” initiative (which ran between 2011 to 2018) led to more people visiting their GP with symptoms highlighted in the media and a subsequent increase in early diagnoses, according to the campaign evaluation report.
The HPV Vaccination campaign (introduced in 2008 for girls and extended to boys in 2019) was originally predicted to prevent over 100,000 cancers by 2058, according to Public Health England estimates. But the uptake is now in decline. While many factors, including a rise in vaccine scepticism, may be to blame, we suspect the corresponding reduction in public health resourcing—especially post COVID—may have contributed to the recent declines in HPV vaccine uptake.
Public health campaigns have historically played a critical role not only in increasing cancer screenings and increasing vaccination rates, but they’ve also played a role in reducing smoking rates and improving mental health literacy.
Without these public health campaigns, the burden of disease grows, with vulnerable populations disproportionately affected, argues Chris Thomas, who is currently a government advisor on secondment from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). “Almost £1 in every £7 cut from public health services has come from England’s ten most deprived communities,” he wrote in an IPPR blog.
THE CASE FOR INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT
This funding vacuum presents a compelling case for pharmaceutical companies and other health sector players to step in—not just as benefactors, but as strategic partners in public health.
The pharmaceutical industry is uniquely positioned to help:
- It has the resources to fund large-scale campaigns
- It has the expertise to communicate complex health information effectively
- It has the reach to engage diverse audiences through digital and community channels.
Moreover, this aligns with the industry’s growing focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Supporting public health is not just good PR—it’s good business. Nurturing and supporting generosity and social impact builds long-term value across brand equity, employee engagement, customer loyalty and resilience.
THE EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
Indeed, public-private health awareness campaigns are nothing new. The “Flora ProActiv Cholesterol Awareness Campaign” in the late 1990s and early 2000s put Unilever and its cholesterol-lowering spread in the spotlight while raising public awareness of high cholesterol and the importance of dietary changes in cardiovascular health. But its use of co-branded NHS materials led to public debate and tighter NHS guidelines on joint working with industry, and eventually to ABPI Code of Practice reforms too.
This debate changed the tone for later NHS–industry collaborations. “Are You Diabetes Aware?” run by NHS Leicester City and Pfizer between approximately 2008 and 2010, was one of the first UK diabetes awareness campaigns where a pharma company directly co-led with an NHS body. Pfizer provided financial support, staff expertise, and outreach resources while maintaining transparency and allowing the NHS to retain editorial control. The campaign demonstrated that commercial involvement can amplify public health impact without compromising NHS leadership or credibility.
More recently, global pharmaceutical company MSD joined forces with NHS Cancer Alliances, charities and professional groups to raise awareness of lung cancer during the COVID pandemic. Their award-winning “Do It For Yourself” campaign encouraged GP visits and reduced late-stage diagnoses in 2021-2022 and has been called a blueprint for future awareness initiatives[ii].
ADDRESSING THE TRUST FACTOR
Of course, establishing public trust must be at the heart of any campaign backed by pharmaceutical or healthcare companies. It goes without saying that any involvement in public health must be transparent, ethical, and free from overt commercial interests.
Collaboration and co-creation with patient and professional organisations and other critical stakeholders also become essential. Campaigns should be co-designed with public health experts, evaluated by academic institutions, and aligned with national health priorities.
Done right, this approach can enhance trust—demonstrating the huge value that pharma can bring to the table as a committed partner in health.
CONCLUSION: A CALL TO ACTION
The decline in public health campaign funding is not just a policy issue; it’s a public health emergency in the making. But it could also presents a rare opportunity for the private sector to step up and lead.
Pharmaceutical companies, health tech firms and other industry players have the tools, talent and responsibility to help fill this gap. By investing in prevention, education and community health, they could not only improve lives — but also build lasting trust and value. But it would require long-term investment and commitment. To make meaningful differences, industry needs to create a strategy that builds public health into their core.
At SAY Communications, we believe that public health is everyone’s business. Is it now time for business to show up?
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[i] https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/data-and-charts/spending-public-health
[ii] Evison M, Taylor S, Grundy S, Perkins A, Peake M. Promoting early diagnosis and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic in lung cancer through public awareness campaigns: learning from patient and public insight work. BMJ Open Respir Res. 2021 Nov;8(1):e001120. doi: 10.1136/bmjresp-2021-001120. PMID: 34750168; PMCID: PMC8576481. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8576481/
