Andy Burnham wants to help people live well by building a preventative state. But the UK remains trapped in a struggling health system, burdened by chronic illness and soaring costs. How can he tackle the root causes of ill health - from poor housing to obesity - rather than just treating the symptoms?

In this special deep-dive from the Policy Fix, Nesta's policy podcast, Nesta CEO Ravi Gurumurthy sits down with some of the country’s leading experts on policy and government. Rather than just rehearsing the problems facing Burnham, they stress-test the big ideas that should shape his agenda, discuss the policy solutions he should actually pursue, and map out the steps he should take to get started in his first 100 days.

In this episode, Ravi Gurumurthy and Hugo Harper, director of our healthy life mission, break down the biggest drivers of ill health, the societal and economic costs at play - and the practical fixes Andy Burnham should focus on first.

Our duo set out an evidence-led blueprint for making prevention the foundation of the UK’s health system, exploring outcome-based regulation for major food retailers, smarter tax incentives to reduce alcohol harm, the strategic rollout of weight-loss medications (GLP-1s) and licensing prescription e-cigarettes to accelerate the decline in smoking.

Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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Hugo Harper, mission director, healthy life mission, Nesta

Hugo leads Nesta's healthy life mission. He leads a team that identifies, tests and scales innovative solutions to obesity. This includes Nesta’s groundbreaking blueprint to halve obesity, a toolkit for policymakers to evaluate the efficacy of different obesity reduction policies.

Hugo is an expert in public health interventions and has a background in behavioural science. While obesity is his specialist area, he has worked on many aspects of public health, from antimicrobial resistance to workplace well-being. During the pandemic, Hugo spent almost all his time on the Covid-19 response and sat on the SAGE sub-group SPI-B. He has overseen projects with a wide range of partners including No10, government departments, large charities and private sector players.

Prior to Nesta, he worked at BIT (the Behavioural Insights Team) where he led their work on health and education, helping them grow from a small team in the Cabinet Office to a global organisation of more than 250 people. He has overseen projects with a wide range of partners including No10, government departments, large charities and private sector players.

Outside of the UK, he has spent time in both Singapore and Australia working on developing the adoption of a more behavioural approach to public health policy implementation.

Ravi Gurumurthy, group chief executive officer, Nesta

Ravi Gurumurthy is group chief executive officer, joining Nesta as chief executive in December 2019. Nesta’s mission is to design, test and scale solutions to society's biggest challenges, from sustainability and health to educational inequality.

Ravi also leads the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), often known as the ‘Nudge Unit’. BIT has grown from a small team in No 10 Downing Street to a 250-person global social purpose consultancy and a subsidiary of Nesta.

Prior to joining Nesta, Ravi co-founded and led the Airbel Innovation Lab at the International Rescue Committee. He was responsible for designing new products and services for people affected by crises in over 40 countries.

Ravi worked in the UK government from 1999 to 2013. He was an adviser and speechwriter to Foreign Secretary David Miliband, leading the creation of Every Child Matters and the Children Act 2004, and the world’s first legally binding climate legislation.

Ravi has held a number of non-executive roles, including lead non-executive director for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.