title: Cross-sector partnerships and public health: challenges and opportunities for addressing obesity and noncommunicable diseases through engagement with the private sector.
abstract: Over the past few decades, cross-sector partnerships with the private sector have become an increasingly accepted practice in public health, particularly in efforts to address infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries. Now these partnerships are becoming a popular tool in efforts to reduce and prevent obesity and the epidemic of noncommunicable diseases. Partnering with businesses presents a means to acquire resources, as well as opportunities to influence the private sector toward more healthful practices. Yet even though collaboration is a core principle of public health practice, public-private or nonprofit-private partnerships present risks and challenges that warrant specific consideration. In this article, we review the role of public health partnerships with the private sector, with a focus on efforts to address obesity and noncommunicable diseases in high-income settings. We identify key challenges-including goal alignment and conflict of interest-and consider how changes to partnership practice might address these.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences.
authors.forename: Lee M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Diane T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Finegood
mesh_terms: D016265:Conflict of Interest; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011315:Preventive Medicine / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017149:Private Sector / Q000458:organization & administration; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000379:methods*; D012308:Risk Management
keywords: complexity; conflict of interest; risk management; systems thinking; trust