Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) from a Public Health Perspective

European Common agricultural policy (CAP) can impact several health outcomes like increased antibiotic resistant infections, poor health of farm workers and unhealthy diets which lead to several non-communicable diseases. Rapid literature review of public health recommendations for a new CAP covers several topics from environment, pesticides, livestock and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to diet, food systems and others. Recommendations on pesticides are to periodically upgrade minimum standards of pesticides, reduce or abandon the use of pesticides and sustainable management of water quality in agriculture. In relation to livestock and antimicrobial resistance, EU should dedicate financial resources for programmes aimed at decreasing animal numbers, stop support for industrial livestock production through CAP subsidies and adopt low-antibiotics farming methods. To ensure better diet and food systems we need sustainable dietary guidelines, food labelling schemes, public procurement of healthy, local and seasonal foodstuffs, food education and campaigns, promoting food systems thinking at all levels, increase productivity of fruit and vegetable cultivation and social innovation in food supply chains. Other recommendations state that CAP should end support for wine sector and that CAP should include training, payment of adequate wages and health and safety standards, and lastly implementation of Health impact assessment of CAP. Agricultural policy is a very complex field with many stakeholders and consequently also implications on many levels. To make health a more visible and important objective, we need more public health experts to take part in advocacy for healthier CAP.