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In this year’s Annual Report, the Chief Medical Officer addresses five new health topics. The first,is the importance of establishing and maintaining regular physical activity throughout life. The benefits of exercise are well known. Health benefits include: stopping and reversing weight gain; reducing the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers; and preventing osteoporosis and reducing falls in older people. Indeed, at every stage of life, physical activity has something to offer. It is never too late to begin and we are never too old to continue. Over the last 50 years, activity levels, particularly amongst the young, have fallen. As individuals and as a society we pay a high price for inactivity. Despite knowing the importance of exercise, we have not created an active society. This chapter reviews the benefits of physical activity at different life stages, and makes recommendations on how to promote a culture of activity throughout life. Although this is a frequently reviewed topic, the potential benefits of nature’s finest cure are still not widely appreciated.

Agenda for day 2

The profiles are designed to assist GP practices and PCTs to ensure that they are providing and commissioning an adequate level of effective and appropriate healthcare services for their local population. The profiles contain information that can be used for both practice and PCT commissioning, for local needs assessment, for monitoring of population health and service use, and for clinical governance reviews.

Places of death: Home, Hospital, Care home, Hospice, Elsewhere, Other. Mortality data from the Public Health Mortality File. Time period: Jan 2007 to Dec 2009

This report includes progress made since the Government’s Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Cross-Government Strategy for England was published in 2008. It sets out how the Government is helping people to make healthier choices; creating an environment that promotes healthy weight; ensuring effective services are available for those at risk; and strengthening the delivery system to support frontline services. Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: Two Years On sets out the encouraging progress the Government has made on achieving its ambition to halt the rise of child obesity and the challenge ahead to tackle adult obesity.

This report, and the reports from the other European countries, will be used in the compilation of the EMCDDA’s annual report of the drug situation in the European Union and Norway to be published in 2010.

Powder cocaine is a powerful psychostimulant that is usually snorted but sometimes injected; a free-base form of cocaine, known as crack cocaine, is usually smoked but is considered a separate and potentially much more harmful drug. Because of the substantial differences in the patterns of use between the two drugs and the profile of users, this bulletin focuses solely on powder cocaine.

Volume 3, Number 2 A summary of notifiable diseases of public health significance reported in East of England during the previous month, plus brief up dates on national surveillance and control issues.

Getting the right mix of modes of transport for local trips matters. Walking or cycling can be a quicker and lower cost alternative to the car or public transport for many short trips, and are often the easiest ways for most of us to get more physically active. More walking or cycling for short journeys has benefits for individuals in terms of their health – they are more likely to achieve a healthy weight and to have better mental well-being. There are benefits for communities too with safer and more pleasant streets, better air quality and lower carbon emissions, and reduced congestion. With the unmissable opportunity offered by hosting the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to inspire more people to make a commitment to physical activity delivering a lasting health legacy from the Games, getting 2 million more adults active by 2012/13, is the goal. So DfT and DH have put walking and cycling at the heart of their transport and health strategies. Working closely with forward-thinking local authorities, they have been able to demonstrate beyond doubt the public health benefits of active travel, the impacts that targeted investment can have in increasing walking and cycling, and what the key factors for successful programmes are. This strategy draws these findings, and other information, together.

Please note this is not the latest volume in this series. This is the sixteenth volume in a series of reports from a Department of Health-funded programme of work based at the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent. The costs reported always reflect, to a greater or lesser degree, work in progress, as the intention is to refine and improve estimates wherever possible, drawing on a wide variety of sources. The aim is to provide as detailed and comprehensive information as possible and to improve unit cost estimates over time, drawing on material as it becomes available, including ongoing and specially commissioned research and quoting sources and assumptions so users can adapt the information for their own purposes. The PSSRU retains the copyright in the Unit Costs series.

This is the seventeenth volume in a series of reports from a Department of Health-funded programme of work based at the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent. To a greater or lesser degree, the costs reported always reflect work in progress, as the intention is to refine and improve estimates wherever possible, drawing on a wide variety of sources. The aim is to provide information that is detailed and comprehensive, and to improve unit cost estimates over time, drawing on material as it becomes available, including ongoing and specially commissioned research and quoting sources and assumptions so users can adapt the information for their own purposes. The PSSRU retains the copyright in the Unit Costs series.

The Furness Families Walk4Life pilot project was delivered by the Ramblers in partnership with Action for Children between May and August 2009. A formative evaluation of the Furness Families Walk4Life project was undertaken by researchers from the British Heart Foundation National Centre for Physical Activity and Health (BHFNC) based at Loughborough University and the British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Group (BHFHPRG) based at the University of Oxford. The primary aim of the evaluation was to explore the feasibility of implementing the Walk4Life programme and to learn about the key elements for successful implementation of the programme to assess the transferability of the pilot and inform wider roll-out. The pilot has been particularly informative in terms of identifying the key attributes for successful delivery and this report makes a number of recommendations for wider scale roll-out of the programme.

The Government's approach to carbon valuation has undergone a major review, concluded in July 2009. The new approach moves away from a valuation based on the damages associated with climate change. Instead, it refers to the cost of mitigating emissions. More precisely, the new approach will set the valuation of carbon at a level consistent with the UK Government’s short and long-term targets. Previously, we have based our valuation of carbon on estimates (drawn from the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change) of the damages associated with the impact on the climate caused by emissions. This is the so-called Shadow Price of Carbon (SPC).

Volume 3, Number 1 A summary of notifiable diseases of public health significance reported in East of England during the previous month, plus brief up dates on national surveillance and control issues.

The survey of smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England (SDD) has been carried out annually by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) since 2000. It is commissioned by the NHS Information Centre, with support from the Home Office; the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) also has an interest in the statistics.

This document aims to advise on and support the effective implementation of clinical governance for all drug treatment providers, across all tiers, whether delivering health or social care, and whether public or independent (private or voluntary sector). It is intended as a guide for clinicians, commissioners and service managers in both the NHS and independent/non-statutory sector.

Briefing sheet of the 2012 obesity dance project for school children. Update on timescales provided.

Overview of the national 2012 programmes, presented at the health and wellbeing theme group meeting on 19th Jan 2010. Aim was to identify which programmes halth adn wellbeing can link into.

Minutes from 4th 2012 health and wellbeing theme group meeting on 19 January 2010. Next meeting is on 21 April 2010 (venue likely to be GO-East).

Agenda for 4th 2012 health and wellbeing theme group meeting on 19 January 2010.

CPHIT Occasional Report No.6

Update of ONS briefing note that explains when disclosure control is necessary for birth and death statistics. This updates the note published in 2005.

Faiths in Action is a £4 million grant programme, distributed over two years in two rounds of funding. In the first round, 216 organisations were offered grants of up to £12,000, totalling over £2.43 million. Round 2 is now open and grants of up to £6000 will be distributed from April 2010 and will fund activities that take place between April 2010 and March 2011. Faiths in Action is for local projects and activities, and is open to faith, inter faith, voluntary and community sector organisations at national, regional and local levels in England. Application form and guidance notes can be accessed from the website and questions can be answered via 01223 406533 or fundingadmin@cdf.org.uk.

Summary of the indicator metadata from GP profiles tool

Minutes from 5th Alliance meeting on 12 January 2010. Next meeting is on 26 April 2010.

Presentations and briefing sheets from 12 January 2010, including the national and regional updates, and the workshop around physical activity measurement in the afternoon: * PA measurement workshop 12 1 2010.ppt * National & regional update slides 12 1 2010.ppt * National & regional update notes 12 1 2010.pdf * NI8 East Region APS 1,2 and 3.xls * East of England briefing sheet on level of activity measures Aug 2009 v2.pdf

This briefing presents information on the substance Mephedrone (also known as: 4‐MMC, ‘Meow’, ‘M‐Cat’) and other related drugs. This substance has received recent media attention concerning its legality and (largely unconfirmed) speculations around its contribution to the deaths of several young people. Little scientific evidence is available on mephedrone and most information is derived from users themselves or user orientated websites such as www.erowid.org. FRANK has some general information on mephedrone (www.talktofrank.com). For further information see www.cph.org.uk

An introduction to the Spend and Outcome Tool produced by YHPHO (which updates the erpho 2008 Programme Budgeting Reports) and initial analysis of programme spend and outcome for each East of England PCT.