Date/Time: 7th February 2013

Public health research and policy are strongly equity focused and future oriented. They focus on what societies can do to address risks to future health, in ways that level up people’s health chances. We would, therefore, expect public health to stand up for future generations and highlight how biophysical changes in the earth’s systems – its climate and oceans, water supply and soil, and biodiversity – are wrought by today’s populations, threatening the survival of future populations. However, public health is almost wholly silent on the biggest challenge and inequity of the twenty-first century. In this lecture, Professor Graham proposed that overhaul and renewal are urgently needed to honour the health claims of future generations.