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I wonder exactly how much ability to change public health remains in the hands of the NHS. The drivers behind the big preventable public health issues - smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity, inactivity - are the efforts of enormous companies.

People aren't doing the same level of exercise as their ancestors, which to some degree is because the likes of BSkyB and Facebook spend huge sums and employ the finest minds of our generation to increase the amount of time we spend sat down looking at screens.

The manufacturers of sugary, fatty, salty foods pay top dollar to sponsor things like the Olympics, because they know that this means people buy more of their products. These same companies have no interest in their wares being consumed in moderation - see how they resist things like the Traffic Lights labelling, which evidence suggests leads consumers to reconsider unhealthy products.

These drivers of unhealthy behaviour can only be curbed by legislation which will make the current business models of very powerful organisations less lucrative. The smoking ban, and the current work around plain packaging, are rare examples of where lawmakers have the courage and public support to try this.

In other cases we end up with Responsibility Deals - the equivalent of asking Jack the Ripper to stick to maybe one murder a week, and consider giving his victims 5 seconds' warning.