Sharon Friel addresses planetary health inequity at Prevention Research 2026

Professor Sharon Friel joined leading researchers, policymakers and practitioners at Prevention Research 2026, held on 4–5 March 2026 at The Vox, Resorts World in Birmingham, UK.

Convened by the UKPRP Prevention Research Network, Population Health Improvement UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the conference brought together researchers, policymakers and practitioners to share the latest research and collaborative strategies for preventing non-communicable diseases and reducing health inequalities, and to strengthen collaboration across the prevention research community.

Professor Friel, an ARC Laureate Fellow and Director of the Planetary Health Equity Hothouse, delivered the opening keynote, Preventing Planetary Health Inequity.

Her talk emphasised the importance for planetary health equity of exiting the consumptogenic system – the web of actors, institutions, policies, commercial activities and norms that incentivise and reward the exploitation of natural resources, excessive production and hyper-consumption of fossil fuel-reliant goods and services and creates wealth concentration. After briefly discussing the consumptogenic system pathologies, she explored ways to enable systems change for the equitable enjoyment of good health in a stable Earth system.

Across the two-day program, key areas of discussion included the commercial determinants of health, emerging collaborations between researchers, policymakers and the public, applying systems-based approaches to maximise impact and creating meaningful public involvement to address health inequalities.

Reflecting on the event, Professor Friel said:

The Prevention Research conference reminded me of the importance of face-to-face interactions between researchers, policy makers and practitioners – being in a room together, understanding, respecting and informing each other’s perspective – it is key to enabling radical incremental and transformative change.

Building on the success of the inaugural 2023 conference, Prevention Research 2026 highlighted the importance of coordinated, cross-sector approaches to prevention and the role of research in informing policy and practice.