Commercial determinants of health explained

The commercial determinants of health are the private sector activities that influence individual and group differences in health status.^[1] Commercial determinants of health can affect people's health positively (such as sport or medical industries) or negatively (such as arms and tobacco industries).^{[1] [2]} They are part of the broader social determinants of health.

Types

Corporate and business activities influences the social, physical and cultural environments in which people live. For example:^{[1] [3]}

• Preference shaping through marketing, including product design (such as food formulation making it more or less healthy), packaging and advertising (enhancing the desirability and acceptability);
• Political lobbying (impeding policy barriers such as plain tobacco packaging);
• Supply chains (amplifying company influence around the globe);
• Corporate social responsibility strategies (whitewashing tarnished reputations);
• Labour conditions;
• Financial practices;
• Funding of science.

Impact

Commercial determinants of health impact a wide range of risk factors and noncommunicable diseases (especially cardiovascular diseases,^[4] cancer,^[5] chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes). For example:^[1]

• Smoking^[6] (tobacco industry);
• Air pollution (fossil-fuel industry);
• Alcohol use^[7] (alcohol industry);
• Obesity^[8] and physical inactivity^[9] (food industry);
• Injuries on roads^[10] and from weapons (arms industry).

According to The Lancet, 'four industries (tobacco, unhealthy food, fossil fuel, and alcohol) are responsible for at least a third of global deaths per year'.^[11] In 2024, the World Health Organization published a report including these figures.^{[12] [13]}

See also

• Health policy
• Social determinants of health

Further reading

• Book: Nason Maani . Mark Petticrew . . 2022 . The Commercial Determinants of Health . . 416 . 978-0-19-757875-9.
• Book: The role of the private sector in NCD prevention and control . https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003306689-62/role-private-sector-ncd-prevention-control-nick-banatvala-alan-trager-mary-amuyunzu-nyamongo-t%C3%A9a-collins . Banatvala . Nick . Bovet . Pascal . 2023 . Noncommunicable Diseases: A Compendium . London . . 978-1-032-30792-3 . 10.4324/9781003306689. Open access.
• Gilmore . Anna B . et al. . Defining and conceptualising the commercial determinants of health . The Lancet . April 2023 . 401 . 10383 . 1194–1213 . 10.1016/s0140-6736(23)00013-2 . 36966782 . 257698115 . 0140-6736 . 1893/35148 . free .
• Commercial determinants of noncommunicable diseases in the WHO European Region, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2024.
• Book: Ennis . Grant . Dark PR: How Corporate Disinformation Undermines Our Health and the Environment . March 1, 2023 . Daraja Press . Québec, Canada . 1990263488 . 265 . 1st .
• Kickbusch, Ilona. “Addressing the Interface of the Political and Commercial Determinants of Health.” Health Promotion International 27, no. 4 (December 1, 2012): 427–28. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/das057.

External links

• Commercial determinants of health (World Health Organization)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Commercial determinants of health . 21 March 2023 . who.int . . 10 November 2023 .
2. Book: The role of the private sector in NCD prevention and control . https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003306689-62/role-private-sector-ncd-prevention-control-nick-banatvala-alan-trager-mary-amuyunzu-nyamongo-t%C3%A9a-collins . Banatvala . Nick . Bovet . Pascal . 2023 . Noncommunicable Diseases: A Compendium . London . . 978-1-032-30792-3 . 10.4324/9781003306689. Open access.
3. Ilona Kickbusch . Luke Allen . Christian Franz . December 2016 . The commercial determinants of health . . 4 . 12 . e895–e896 . 10.1016/S2214-109X(16)30217-0 . 27855860 . free .
4. Fact sheet Web site: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) . 11 June 2021 . who.int . . 11 November 2023 . Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally. An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2019, representing 32% of all global deaths..
5. Fact sheet Web site: Cancer . 3 February 2022 . who.int . . 11 November 2023 . Around one-third of deaths from cancer are due to tobacco use, high body mass index, alcohol consumption, low fruit and vegetable intake, and lack of physical activity..
6. Fact sheet Web site: Tobacco . 31 July 2023 . who.int . . 11 November 2023 . Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year, including an estimated 1.3 million non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke..
7. Fact sheet Web site: Alcohol . 9 May 2022 . who.int . . 11 November 2023 . The harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 disease and injury conditions. Worldwide, 3 million deaths every year result from harmful use of alcohol..
8. Fact sheet Web site: Obesity and overweight . 9 June 2021 . who.int . . 11 November 2023 .
9. Fact sheet Web site: Physical activity . 5 October 2022 . who.int . . 11 November 2023 . People who are insufficiently active have a 20% to 30% increased risk of death compared to people who are sufficiently active..
10. Book: Ennis . Grant . Dark PR: How Corporate Disinformation Undermines Our Health and the Environment . March 1, 2023 . Daraja Press . 978-1990263484 . 265 . 1st . 28 October 2024.
11. Editorial . 23 March 2023 . Unravelling the commercial determinants of health . . 401 . 10383 . 1131 . 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00590-1 . 36966781 . free . The Lancet .
12. Web site: Just four industries cause 2.7 million deaths in the European Region every year . . 12 June 2024 . 12 June 2024 . Four corporate products – tobacco, ultra-processed foods, fossil fuels and alcohol – cause 19 million deaths per year globally, or 34% of all deaths..
13. News: Anna Bawden . Denis Campbell . Tobacco, alcohol, processed foods and fossil fuels 'kill 2.7m a year in Europe' . . 12 June 2024 . 12 June 2024.