PUBLIC HEALTH

The Potential Public Health Outcomes Related to London 2012



The Potential Public Health Outcomes Related to London 2012

Introduction

The government of UK's Department of Health is responsible for formation and regulation of government policy for health and social care, and the National Health Service in England, headed by the Secretary of State for Health. The Department of Health has overall responsibility for public health in the run up to and during the London 2012 Olympic Games; however, the July 2010 Public Health White Paper, proposes an imperative future role for local government and local communities in recuperating health and wellbeing of their population and tackling inequalities. It is commonly noted that Public health issues associated with the Games are overseen by an Olympic and Paralympic Health Programme Board. A number of boards, co-ordination groups, and work streams reports to this Board, through the 2012 Health Services and Resilience Board.

It will be the first time that Olympics are going to be held in Britain, since 1948. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), along with HM Government, Greater London Authority (GLA), British Olympic Association (BOA), and British Paralympics Association (BPA), are operational with local authorities and other organisations across the country for supporting participation of communities working together for the betterment of economic, health, social, environmental, and sporting benefits, that the Games about to be bringing to London and UK. The overall vision is to employ the power of the Games for creating an enduring legacy across UK (Tranfield, Denyer & Smart, 2003, pp. 207-222).

The London Olympic and Paralympics Games are the first major sporting event to have broad and ruthless commitments towards healthy living, along with the inclusion for a vision of using the Games power for inspiring change. Whether as athletes, spectators or simply as supporters, everyone involved in the Games will assist to change lives of people, level of participation in sports, attitudes towards disability, the communities across London; in particular east London, which would escort towards a fitter society and assist in reduction of health inequalities. The London 2012 Sustainability Policy assured to use the Games, as a catalyst as an inspirational source for people across the country to indulge in sport and develop energetic, healthy and sustainable lifestyles (Nutbeam, 2006, pp. 259-267).

On the other hand, Ken Livingstone, while being a Mayor of London, summed up for how he visualizes the legacy: “One of the main reasons I backed the 2012 bid was because I saw the potential of the Games as a major catalyst... new homes for all Londoners”.

Since1980s, there has been a notable growth in the field of population health, which has enhanced the scope of focus of public health from individualistic approach of certain behaviours and risk pertaining to individual factors, to population-level concerns, like education, poverty, and inequality. The concern of public health intervention is to make improvements and progress in health and quality of life through the utilization of methods for prevention ...