Changing Lifestyles
27th July 2006
The prime minister said, in a speech, it was the job of ministers to "empower the individual, rather than command".
People must take more responsibility for their health to relieve pressure on the NHS, Tony Blair has said.
Speaking in Nottingham, he said that unless the food industry agreed to limit junk food adverts to children by 2007 he would bring in mandatory rules.
Under the banner "Our Nation's Future", and behind a rostrum carrying the labels HM Government and Boots, Mr Blair's key message was that the NHS could be crippled by the cost of treating people affected by obesity, alcohol abuse and smoking.
He said that failure to address bad lifestyles was putting an "increasing strain" on the health service, and was hindering efforts to outlaw social inequalities.
"That doesn't mean you stop treating people on the NHS who smoke, or force people to do things that they don't choose in their lifestyle," he said.
"But it does mean that government has to play an active role in precisely the way the enabling state should work and that is empowering people, setting the conditions in which they can choose responsibly."
