SPECTRUM
The SPECTRUM Consortium is a multi-university, multi-agency research consortium focused on the commercial determinants of health and health inequalities, funded by the UK Prevention Research Partnership.
Introduction
SPECTRUM is generating new evidence to inform the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) caused by unhealthy commodities, including tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food and drink.
Through eight work packages SPECTRUM research aims to transform policy and practice to encourage and enable healthy environments and behaviours. The Sheffield Tobacco and Alcohol Policy Modelling Platform (STAPM) is being used to develop new economic and health impact evidence, modelling and analysis in Work Package 4.
Work Package 4
This work package aims to develop economic and health impact evidence, modelling and analysis, focussing on wider complex system effects of unhealthy commodities and prevention policies in the UK. Its objectives include:
- Developing new evidence on the impacts of alcohol and tobacco, their associated diseases, and prevention policies on the wider economy, including: consumers' work productivity, employment and early retirement; revenue to retailers; gains and losses in different sectors of the UK economy; direct and indirect tax revenues to government; and public sector costs from healthcare, social care and crime.
- Developing and extending the Sheffield Tobacco and Alcohol Policy Model for England to analyse the economic and health impacts of changes in use of alcohol and/or tobacco on a wide range of outcomes; and producing new versions for both Wales and Scotland, thus enabling comparisons between countries.
- Undertaking translational work with collaborators in food systems to explore how economic methods in alcohol and tobacco could be of use in complex food systems modelling.
Find out more about Work Package 4 on the STAPM website.
SARG team
Members of the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group involved in SPECTRUM include Alan Brennan, Colin Angus, Duncan Gillespie, Damon Morris, Grace Leeming and Ryan Kai Le Chen.
Key information
SPECTRUM is funded through the UK Prevention Research Partnership (MR/S037519/1), an initiative funded by UK Research and Innovation Councils, the Department of Health and Social Care (England) and the UK devolved administrations, and leading health research charities.
Dates
August 2019 – February 2025
Funding
£5,943,611
Key contact
Outputs
Morris D, Gillespie D, James M, Breeze P, Brennan A (2026) Modelling the economic effects of reducing the consumption of unhealthy commodities: An inter-sectoral input–output approach Addiction DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/add.70336
Leeming G, Morris D, Gillespie D, Angus C, Brennan A (2026) Modelling of the health and economic impacts of alcohol and tobacco tax policy in England: Autumn Budget 2025. An analysis using the Sheffield Tobacco and Alcohol Policy Model University of Sheffield DOI: https://doi.org/10.15131/shef.data.30858371
Holmes J, Morris D, Gillespie D, Brennan A, Leeming G, Kai Le Chen R, Wilson L, Angus C (2026) Public health impacts of increasing the minimum unit price for alcohol in Scotland: A model-based appraisal PLOS Medicine DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004792
Kai Le Chen R, Morris D, Angus C, Gilmore A, Hiscock R, Holmes J, Langley TE, Pryce R, Wilson LB, Brennan A, Gillespie D (2026) Reducing the exceptional affordability of hand-rolling tobacco using tax escalators: a health and economic impact modelling study for England Tobacco Control DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2025-059670
Gillespie D, Morris D, Angus C, Wilson L, Kai Le Chen R, Leeming G, Holmes J, Brennan A (2025) Model-based appraisal of the potential effects of minimum pricing for tobacco in Scotland Tobacco Control DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2024-059252
Morris D, Gillespie D, Angus C, Chen R, Brennan A (2024) Modelling of the health and economic impacts of alcohol and tobacco tax policy in England: Autumn Budget 2024. An analysis using the Sheffield Tobacco and Alcohol Policy Model University of Sheffield DOI: https://doi.org/10.15131/shef.data.27678243
Morris D, Angus C, Gillespie D, Stevely A, Pryce R, Wilson L, Henney M, Meier P, Holmes J, Brennan A (2024) Estimating the effect of transitioning to a strength-based alcohol tax system on alcohol consumption and health outcomes: a modelling study of tax reform in England The Lancet Public Health DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(24)00191-9
Morris D, Gillespie D, Dockrell MJ, et al (2024) Potential smoke-free dividend across local areas in England: a cross-sectional analysis Tobacco Control DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/tc-2023-058264
Leeming G, Angus C, Gillespie D (2023) Alcohol and tobacco attributable fractions for Scotland Sheffield: ScHARR, University of Sheffield. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15131/shef.data.24543343
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