Peter Draper’s Legacy to Public Health Policy, by Alex Scott-Samuel

I first met Peter in I think November 1976, wandering the streets of Eastbourne with Gordon Best and John Dennis before they presented their Health and Wealth paper.

‘Health & Wealth’ Peter Draper, Gordon Best & John Dennis.
Unit for the Study of Health Policy, Guy’s Hospital Medical School

That paper had a great impact on me – it introduced me to critical perspectives on economic growth that have served me well ever since. And it led me to reading all the USHP publications and immersing myself in their socio-ecological critique of health and public policy.

Peter really invented the critical study of health policy in the UK and equally if not more importantly, imported the notion of healthy public policy, which Nancy Milio had started in the US. More of Nancy later. USHP were also instrumental in embedding health promotion in the UK at a time when lifestyle health education was the most we could expect from government. Making the healthier choices the easier choices was I believe a USHP invention.

I remained an avid fan of USHP, though being 200 miles away in Liverpool, there wasn't much contact. I attended the final excellent USHP conference when it closed in 1984 - both a celebration and a wake.

I think I got more involved with Peter after that - I recall well his contribution at The Other Economic Summit which WHO sponsored at Bedford College in 1985. That was co-organised by the great macroeconomic critic James Robertson who is still going strong and who Peter referenced in the Health is Wealth paper.

In 1986 Peter and I published a paper in the Health Service Journal entitled Whatever Happened to Public Health?i it expressed our frustration both with the impact of Thatcherism and with the inability of the then Faculty of Community Medicine to engage with the politics of health. As a result of the debate which followed that article, we founded the Public Health Alliance which did some very good work over the years that followed.

For those who hadn't experienced USHP, Peter's real legacy began with ‘Health Through Public Policy.’

‘Health Through Public Policy. The Greening of Public Health.’ 1991, The Merlin Press Green Print.

Peter brought together an excellent group of authors to write a collection of essays that really expressed the social, political and ecological dimensions of his and their work.

Through the book and also through the way in which Peter's innovative ideas diffused through the UK health discourse, he has made an immeasurable impact on thinking and action in health and in public policy. Peter's work is the key reason why, these days, we take it for granted that poverty, discrimination, unemployment and the arms trade can and should be viewed as health issues.

When Peter first started as a hospital doctor he was alienated by the parasitic impact of privatisation on the NHS. After his retirement he became a vigorous campaigner in this area - a perspective I fully share. Since I became chair, the Socialist Health Association is speaking out against NHS privatisation – as is Jeremy Corbyn. A comment from Peter

Draper on Corbyn – email, 12 August 2015
“A politically hopeful time at last! I haven't seen anything about Jeremy's health policy. Going by today's profile in the Guardian, he is likely to develop this in a bottom-up way. Have you sent him anything on health yet? If not, can I urge you to lose no time in getting our sort of policies discussed?”


i'll end with two absent friends.
Hugo Crombie…

"I would have loved to come and celebrate Peter's life and work - I'm proud to have worked closely with him after leaving Liverpool. I have many happy memories of talking about work, life and a range of other topics with him while picking food for lunch from his allotment.
I'm afraid however that I can't make it as the date coincides with my last day at work at NICE. I'm off to pastures new, although not clear what at the moment."


Here finally is an extract from a recollection of Peter I requested from the great Nancy Milio - she also comments on Peter's legacy.
Nancy Milio on Peter
“I first met Peter in 1983. I was in London to explore how health promotion policy was being done in the UK, including handling by the mass media... Peter generously met me at Victoria Station when I arrived. He then drove me to lunch of appetizing vegetarian fare and long discussion with some staff at Guy’s. We seemed to be thinking along similar lines which I thought quite amazing....
He was always interesting and evocative to talk with, willing to engage in vigorous exchanges and push boundaries, speaking in ways that were not always popular. At the same time he was generous with his time and attention. I can only hope his kind of constructive pushback to the conventional has left its mark on the younger people who are assuming decision-making positions that will determine health in an era of climate change and inequalities.

Dr Alex Scott-Samuel, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, University of Liverpool; Chair Socialist Heath Association 2017