Body set up to tackle country's health record

EDINBURGH will be at the forefront of a major new body set up to tackle Scotland's poor health record, it was announced today.

The Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy will feature some of the top minds in public health.

Head of the £3.5 million collaboration, Professor John Frank, will hold a chair in public health at Edinburgh University, and will be based at the Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit in the Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine.

Experts have been tasked with creating strategies to fight Scotland's biggest problems – alcohol abuse, violence and obesity.

Prof Frank said: "You can't tackle the impending obesity pandemic simply by classifying a third of the child population as patients. The solution is to change the culture.

"Unfortunately, we can't simply go to the bookshelf and find a recipe that might work for Scotland. We need to come up with home-grown and home-tested solutions."