Best Beginnings appoints Professor Alan Maryon-Davis as Chairman.

Professor Alan Maryon-Davis has been elected as Chair of the national charity Best Beginnings.  He takes over from media lawyer Andrew Moss who has held the post since 2009.

Professor Maryon-Davis is Honorary Professor of Public Health at King’s College London and immediate Past President of the UK Faculty of Public Health with over 35 years experience in preventive medicine, health promotion and health policy at national and local level. As former head of health sciences at the Health Education Council he was involved in many national campaigns, including infant nutrition, child accidents and passive smoking. More recently he spearheaded local approaches to reducing health inequalities as director of public health for the inner-London borough of Southwark.

Prof Maryon-Davis was a member of several Department of Health taskforces and chaired a national working group on health partnerships. He is a trustee of a number of charities, vice-chair of the National Heart Forum and past chair of the Royal Society for Public Health. A frequent writer and broadcaster on health matters, Alan has a strong interest in harnessing the power of the media, old and new, to help people achieve better health and wellbeing for themselves, their families and their communities.

Commenting on his new role, Prof Maryon-Davis said: “The health of babies and toddlers is the litmus test of any society – and reducing health inequalities in the first two years of life is absolutely crucial. But in these tough times there’s a real risk that the gap will widen even more. What’s needed is fresh thinking and new ideas. Best Beginnings has already built up an impressive track record in innovative approaches to empowering disadvantaged parents and children, and I’m very much looking forward to helping guide the charity to the next level. There’s a huge job to be done.”

 

Best Beginnings works to give every baby in the UK the best possible start in life, and I am delighted that such a distinguished professor and experienced communicator on health matters Chairing the Best Beginnings trustee board will help Best Beginnings to make it clear to parents, healthcare professionals and the government that things can be done to improve infant healthcare inequalities and that the time to do it is now. I look forward to working closely with Alan as Chair of Best Beginnings to develop more effective interventions that will reduce health inequalities in child health.
 
Janet Fyle, Policy Advisor, Royal College of Midwives said:
“As a Trustee of Best Beginnings, I’m thrilled that we have been joined by such an eminent colleague and I look forward to the gains that we could achieve in the years to come in the interest of children...”