Prevention Knowledge Platform submits report on commercial determinants of health; the report explicitly addresses the influence of the alcohol industry on health policy
5 November 2026
The Prevention Knowledge Platform (Kennisplatform Preventie) has recently presented a report titled “Commercial Determinants of Health: Insights for Health Policy and Commerce” to Minister Sophie Hermans (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport). The report outlines how commercial interests and corporate activities influence public health. Minister Hermans has since forwarded the report to the House of Representatives.
The core message of the report is that health policy should not focus solely on the behavior of individual citizens, but also on the economic and commercial conditions that encourage unhealthy behavior.
Commercial determinants of health include factors such as advertising, product development, pricing strategies, distribution, lobbying, and the funding of scientific research. These activities can have both positive and negative impacts on health. The report cites an estimate from the World Health Organization suggesting that approximately 25% of deaths in Europe are linked to commercial determinants of health.
According to the report, commercial enterprises often wield significant economic power, while the responsibility for protecting public health is fragmented across various government ministries and administrative levels. Citizens are frequently held personally responsible for making healthy choices, even though they have little influence over the commercial environment in which those choices are made.
The Prevention Knowledge Platform offers 10 recommendations, including:
• Greater attention to commercial influence: examining not only harmful products—such as alcohol and tobacco—but also marketing, lobbying, the funding of scientific research, and corporate strategies. • Stronger government regulation: explore how the government, acting as a market regulator, can alter economic incentives to promote healthy products and business practices.
• Organizing counter-power: strengthen the capacity to protect public health interests against powerful commercial sectors.
• Structurally integrate public health considerations into tax policy, economic regulation, spatial planning, and other policy areas.
• Improved knowledge and collaboration: invest in research, data collection, and cooperation between government ministries, scientists, municipalities, and public health services (GGDs).
The Knowledge Platform emphasizes that while further research is valuable, the government need not wait to implement measures for which sufficient knowledge is already available.
Regarding Dutch alcohol policy, it is particularly significant that the report explicitly addresses the influence of the alcohol industry on health policy. This encompasses not only alcohol advertising but also political lobbying, the shaping of scientific research, and economic incentives that may encourage alcohol consumption. The report thus provides a scientific basis for a broader approach to alcohol policy—one that, beyond public awareness campaigns, also examines regulation, market governance, and commercial influence.