Key Highlights :
1. The commercial sector exists to make a profit. This outweighs public health and well-being considerations.
2. Commercial activity’s health impacts can be positive, such as employing people in communities. But most are harmful.
3. In public health, we call these “commercial determinants of health”.
4. The commercial practices that lead to these impacts range from legal to illegal, evident to subtle.
5. At the same time, several types of practices used by commercial actors harm us.
6. The most obvious are marketing, reputation management, questioning scientific evidence, and financial manipulation.
7. This matters because it is the unsuspecting public that pay. They bear the suffering and the costs of the global epidemic of noncommunicable diseases, and the rapidly accelerating climate emergency.
8. To prevent further damage, commercial actors must meet the actual costs of the harm they cause.
9. Governments will need to hold commercial actors to account.
10. Norms need to be reshaped in the public interest, drawing attention to the right to health and the governmental obligation to protect health, not just corporate freedoms.
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The global preventable death rate is estimated at about 485,000 deaths per year, but it is less known is that just four industries account for at least one-third of global preventable deaths. These industries are: agriculture, construction, sanitation and hygiene, and transportation and communication.
Agriculture is the leading cause of preventable death, with an estimated 9 million deaths per year. This is due, in part, to the use of unsafe practices, such as using pesticides and feeding livestock antibiotics. Construction is second, with an estimated 5 million deaths per year. This is due, in part, to the use of poor construction materials, such as flimsy walls that can collapse, and lack of safety precautions, such as scaffolding.
Sanitation and hygiene is third, with an estimated 3 million deaths per year. This is due, in part, to the use of unsafe water and sanitation facilities, and the lack of proper hygiene practices, such as not washing hands. Transportation and communication is fourth, with an estimated 2 million deaths per year. This is due, in part, to the use of unsafe roads and planes, and the use of outdated technology.
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