About this event
- Date and time Fri 15 May 2026 from 10:00am to 4:30pm
- Location Royal Society of Medicine
- Organised by Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Public Health
This hybrid event is part of our annual collaboration with the UK Public Health Community, with this year’s theme focusing on the health of children and young people. Evidence highlights how exposure to unhealthy food marketing and manipulative digital advertising, due to regulatory gaps in digital spaces, increases risks of obesity, poor diet, and mental health challenges among children.
As a result, a crisis has begun surrounding the health of children in the UK and it is essential that risks are identified and evidence is used and shared to protect them from future harms.
Topics will focus on:
- Aggressive marketing of unhealthy commodities, like HFSS foods and energy drinks across multiple platforms, including influencer-driven social media campaigns.
- Digital advertising and stealth marketing that exploit cognitive vulnerabilities and blur boundaries between content and advertising.
- Algorithm-driven exposure showing harmful content, contributing to mental health issues, body image concerns and addictive behaviours.
Why attend?
- Hear from high-profile speakers who will deliver scientific evidence focused on how to improve the health of children and young people.
- Analyse how commercial determinants shape children's health as a result of advertising and social media.
- Understand the regulatory and policy gaps in protecting children from harmful marketing practices.
- Explore advocacy strategies and collaborative approaches for public health professionals.
- Engage with masterclasses, panel discussions, and interactive sessions with young people.
Learning outcomes:
- Acknowledge the impact of commercial determinants of health (CDoH) on children's health.
- Gain practical recommendations for policy, advocacy and regulation.
- Develop skills to be able to highlight youth engagement as a critical component in addressing CDoH.
- Strengthen networks for collaborative action across the RSM, public health, academia and civil society.
Who can attend?
- Consultants
- GPs
- Students
Only virtual places are currently available. In-person places are now sold out.
RSM members enjoy free access to over 200 expert-led events each year, including CPD-accredited learning.
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Show Virtual / In Person rates
Agenda
View the programme
Annual general meeting
For section members only
Morning session
Registration, tea, and coffee
Welcome
Professor Maggie Rae CBE, President, Epidemiology and Public Health Section, Royal Society of Medicine, and Professor Tracy Daszkiewicz, President of the Faculty of Public Health
Introduction
Professor Tracy Daszkiewich
Child rights, the law and the commercial determinants of health
Amandine Garde, Professor of Law, School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool
Commercial determinants of health and legal tools for promoting child health and preventing harm
Health across the early years
Chris van Tulleken, Professor of Global Health and Infection, University College London
Panel discussion
Chair: May van Schalkwyk
Panel members: Chris van Tulleken, Amandine Garde, Tracy Daszkiewicz
Commercial determinants and child health; what can be done and how do we rethink our approaches to prevention using a CDoH lens?
Faculty policy work on commercial determinants and conflicts of interest
Dr May van Schalkwyk, Research Fellow and Public Health Specialty Doctor, Global Health Policy Unit and Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention, the University of Edinburgh, and Anna Brook, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Bath and Consultant in Public Health, Wakefield Council
Governance with a commercial determinants of health lens: protecting policy making and the implications for children's rights
Morning wrap up
Professor Tracy Daszkiewich
Lunch
Film on commercial determinants to play during lunch
[To note: the film will be screened in the auditorium]
Afternoon session
Welcome to the afternoon session
Professor Tracy Daszkiewich and Professor Maggie Rae
A public health approach to online harms – the case for digital sanitation
Amrit Kaur Purba, Assistant Professor and Wellcome Fellow, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Advocating children’s rights in the digital world
Baroness Beeban Kidron OBE
Advocating children’s rights in the digital world; standards for online safety and dealing with big tech
Panel discussion: Children and young people harms
Chair: Professor Maggie Rae CBE
Panel members: Amrit Kaur Purba, Dr Nicola Stingelin-Giles, Council, Epidemiology and Publish Health Section, Royal Society of Medicine, and Dr Sachin Ananth, President, Respiratory Medicine Section, Royal Society of Medicine
Big tech, social media and vaping: local health impacts of global commercial practices; regulatory gaps and system level responses
Governing corporate power in public health
Dr Alice Kadri, Co-Chair, FPH Special Interest Group on Commercial Determinants of Health, Dr Anna Brook, Sarah Trolley, Caroline Cerny, and Nika Pajda
Tobacco, food and digital platform industries
Call to action
Amandine Garde
Next steps, Actions, Leadership
Closing remarks
Professor Tracy Daszkiewich and Professor Maggie Rae CBE
Refreshments
View the programme
Annual general meeting
For section members only
Morning session
Welcome
Professor Maggie Rae CBE, President, Epidemiology and Public Health Section, Royal Society of Medicine, and Professor Tracy Daszkiewicz, President of the Faculty of Public Health
Introduction
Professor Tracy Daszkiewich
Child rights, the law and the commercial determinants of health
Amandine Garde, Professor of Law, School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool
Commercial determinants of health and legal tools for promoting child health and preventing harm
Health across the early years
Chris van Tulleken, Professor of Global Health and Infection, University College London
Panel discussion
Chair: May van Schalkwyk
Panel members: Chris van Tulleken, Amandine Garde, Tracy Daszkiewicz
Commercial determinants and child health; what can be done and how do we rethink our approaches to prevention using a CDoH lens?
Faculty policy work on commercial determinants and conflicts of interest
Dr May van Schalkwyk, Research Fellow and Public Health Specialty Doctor, Global Health Policy Unit and Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention, the University of Edinburgh, and Anna Brook, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Bath and Consultant in Public Health, Wakefield Council
Governance with a commercial determinants of health lens: protecting policy making and the implications for children's rights
Morning wrap up
Professor Tracy Daszkiewich
Lunch
Film on commercial determinants to play during lunch
Afternoon session
Welcome to the afternoon session
Professor Tracy Daszkiewich and Professor Maggie Rae
A public health approach to online harms – the case for digital sanitation
Amrit Kaur Purba, Assistant Professor and Wellcome Fellow, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Advocating children’s rights in the digital world
Baroness Beeban Kidron OBE
Advocating children’s rights in the digital world; standards for online safety and dealing with big tech
Panel discussion: Children and young people harms
Chair: Professor Maggie Rae CBE
Panel members: Amrit Kaur Purba, Dr Nicola Stingelin-Giles, Council, Epidemiology and Publish Health Section, Royal Society of Medicine, and Dr Sachin Ananth, President, Respiratory Medicine Section, Royal Society of Medicine
Big tech, social media and vaping: local health impacts of global commercial practices; regulatory gaps and system level responses
Governing corporate power in public health
Dr Alice Kadri, Co-Chair, FPH Special Interest Group on Commercial Determinants of Health, Dr Anna Brook, Sarah Trolley, Caroline Cerny, and Nika Pajda
Tobacco, food and digital platform industries
Call to action
Amandine Garde
Next steps, Actions, Leadership
Closing remarks
Professor Tracy Daszkiewich and Professor Maggie Rae CBE
Location
Royal Society of Medicine, 1 Wimpole St, Marylebone, London, W1G 0AE, United Kingdom
Registration for this event will close at 1:00AM on 14 May 2026. Late registrations will not be accepted.
The agenda is subject to change at any time
If the event is recorded, we are only able to share presentations that we have received permission to share. There is no guarantee that all sessions will be available after the event, this is at the presenter’s and RSM’s discretion.
All views expressed at this event are of the speakers themselves and not of the Royal Society of Medicine, nor the speaker's organizations.
This event will be recorded and stored by the Royal Society of Medicine and may be distributed in future on various internet channels.