2025: A critical year for public health

2025 has been a busy year for public health. Amid a backdrop of global political and economic change, the public health community has worked harder than ever to drive improvements in people’s lives.

At RSPH, we’ve spent the year working to make public health happen everywhere by driving policy change, upskilling and educating the workforce, and providing a home for the global public health community.

A plan for the future of health

One of the most significant moments for public health this year was the publication of the 10 Year Health Plan for England. This plan sets outs the Government’s plan to improve the health of the public over the next ten years.

It recognised that our health is shaped by the places we live in, prioritising services that keep us in good health – like vaccinations and screening services.

It also signalled a welcome shift from treatment to prevention, detailing interventions like community-based services and better alcohol labelling, reflecting long long-standing public health recommendations.

Addressing the wider determinants of health

It is crucial that we address the factors that determine our health and make the places that we spend our time healthy for everyone. Whether it’s our high streets, schools or social care services, this year we’ve worked to influence policy change to ensure that every part of our society plays a part in improving health outcomes.

On top of this, we held our first All Party Parliamentary Group focused on healthy places, bringing together MPs and businesses to discuss solutions to some of our most pressing health challenges.

Improving health at work

One of these challenges is workplace health. This year, the Government published the Keep Britain Working Review, recognising the workplace as a key setting for prevention and recommending the need for universal workplace health provision.

With more people being forced to stop working due to ill health every year, poor health is costing the economy – and our health – dearly. We know that by improving workplace health support, we can boost productivity, cut absence rates and improve employee wellbeing.

That’s why we launched the Health and Work Network, providing a space for employers to come together to share best practice, learn from each other, and demonstrate their commitment to workplace wellbeing.

Celebrating public health wins

It’s also important that we celebrate the wins for public health. England’s first ever Men’s Health Strategy was published, emphasising how we can only make progress on men’s health if we tackle the root causes that are driving worsening outcomes across England and setting out a vision for improving men’s health.

We also celebrated the lifting of the two-child limit – a landmark moment that will make a profound difference to the health and wellbeing of millions of children.

Platforming voices from across the sector

At RSPH, we are proud to use our voice platform leaders from across public health and beyond. That’s why earlier this year we launched our podcast: Spread the Health.

Featuring expert guests from a breadth of sectors, fields and industries, Spread the Health explores how our environment influences health in both obvious and unexpected ways.

On it, we tackle the big questions about the nation's health and, crucially, examine how to overcome the barriers to building a healthier future for all.

From mental health campaigners to policymakers and politicians, we have heard a range of fascinating voices all aimed at improving the health of the public.

A home for public health professionals

In July, we were thrilled to welcome RSPH Members to our annual Member’s Open Day. This gave our members the opportunity to discuss the issues they care about and network with each other. We also welcomed Professor Bola Owolabi CBE for a fascinating talk on her experiences working to reduce health inequalities.

Providing routes into public health careers

The wider public health workforce play a key role in protecting and improving the health of the public, and the shift to prevention won’t happen without them. It is crucial that we build skills within the workforce and make public health careers accessible to improve health outcomes for all.

That’s why we launched our new educational pathways, aimed at supporting professionals across a wide range of sectors to contribute meaningfully to public health and prevention. Pathways combine our training and qualifications to support careers, build skills and help individuals to progress within the workforce.

One area of the workforce that faces significant recruitment challenges is the pest control industry. Alongside the National Pest Technicians Association, we announced the launch of a new ‘Careers Hub’ aimed at encouraging people to join the pest control workforce.

The hub will showcase a range of content that outlines various career options and pathways into pest control and allow people to hear firsthand from people in the industry about the realities of the profession.

Educating the workforce

On top of our educational pathways, this year we launched a range of new qualifications and online courses to improve health outcomes, including our Level 2 Award in Public Health – a first-of-its-kind qualification which helps learners take a recognised career pathway into public health.

Alongside the National Association of Primary Care, we launched a new Level 3 Certificate in Community Health and Wellbeing to help bring health into local communities. We also joined forces with EFL in the Community to pilot bespoke public health training to Football Club charities across England.

We were thrilled that our commitment to high-quality public health education was recognised by an award at the FAB 2025 Qualifications & Assessment Excellence Awards for our work with the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

We won the Awarding Organisation and Employer Relationship of the Year category, which celebrates our long-standing collaboration in developing a range of qualifications tailored to the needs of FSA employees and stakeholders.

Looking to 2026

The public health community has had a lot of successes this year. However, we have also faced a lot of challenges – and 2026 is sure to throw a lot more our way. That’s why it has never been more important to demonstrate the importance of public health.

Whether it’s delivering vaccines to reduce rates of diseases or passing legislation to protect people from smoking harms, public health is critical to ensuring everyone gets to live a happy, healthy life.

As we head into next year, we will continue to make the case for public health and prevention to improve and protect the health of the public.