Scenario Three: A Quiet Case for Skin Health in Government Policy

What if every government department in England had to consider its impact on skin?

Skin is the body’s largest organ—vital, visible, and reactive. It reflects our environment, our health, our stress levels, and how we live and work.

Yet across government departments in England, skin is rarely acknowledged in public-facing policy.

This isn’t about creating new policies—It’s about naming skin in the ones we already have.

The word skin rarely appears in national strategies—even though it’s something we all live in, carry with us, and see every day.

The UK Government is currently developing long-term health strategies, such as England’s 10-Year Health Plan, to shape future priorities and funding.

If skin isn’t named in England’s 10-Year Health Plan, how will it ever be funded, researched, or prioritised?

Here’s what we’ve found so far:

• Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC):
  Skin is mentioned in chronic condition management (e.g. eczema, psoriasis), but there’s little public guidance on skin barrier care, prevention, or everyday skin health - even in current campaigns like Better Health: Let’s Do This.

• Department for Education (DfE):
  PSHE includes hygiene and puberty - but not skin as a health marker, a barrier, or a factor in mental wellbeing.

• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP):
  Workplace skin issues like contact dermatitis are addressed under COSHH - but skin is absent in work capability assessment, occupational wellbeing, and return-to-work guidance.

• Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra):
  UV radiation and pollution are monitored - but skin health is not named in public-facing education.

• Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC):
  Mould and damp guidance focuses on respiratory risk - not on their links to eczema or dermatitis.

• Department for Transport (DfT):
  No public information on pollution or UV exposure for commuters or outdoor workers.

• HM Treasury & Cabinet Office:
  Oversee cross-sector policy - but skin health is not considered in prevention funding or wellbeing strategies.

Other departments—like the Home Office, DCMS, and Business & Trade —may touch skin health through PPE, body image, and cosmetic regulation. But this scenario focuses on those with the most direct impact on health, housing, environment, education, and work.

This quiet case aligns with the Health in All Policies (HiAP) framework—an approach that encourages all departments to consider the health implications of their decisions- that is if HiAP is being implemented - across departments, and across parties.

A Proven Model: Dental Health as Public Health

We already know that government departments can embed health into policy—just look at dental care.

National campaigns promote brushing, sugar awareness, and routine check-ups. Schools run oral hygiene programmes. Public health strategies tie dental wellbeing to diet, social confidence, and systemic health.

But if sugar affects teeth and deserves preventive action - why not do the same for skin?

Why are we educating children about gums, but not about barrier health?
Why are we regulating oral hygiene, but not the largest organ of the body?

Why are we checking up on the publics dental health, but not their skin?

Skin is just as visible, just as reactive to lifestyle, and just as tied to long-term wellbeing. If skin were treated as a true public health issue, national education wouldn’t stop at teeth - it would extend to everyone’s personal skin health: their habits, their barriers, and their environment.

It's time to include skin. Because when skin is left out of national policy, the public is left without the full picture.

The Skin Well™ quietly asks: if skin is the body’s largest organ, why isn’t it recognised in national policy across every department - or named in the 10-Year Plan?

📬 Related Open Letter(s):

• Open Letter 2: Have We Privatised Skin?

• Open Letter 3: A Quiet Call for Skin & Environmental Alerts

• Open Letter 5: A Quiet Call to Include Skin in Public Health

Last updated May 2025