Cuts in public health funding to tackle problems including teenage pregnancy, alcohol abuse and sexually transmitted diseases will be counterproductive, local government leaders have warned.
They say reductions in councils' public health grants of more than £530m by the end of the decade will cost more in the long run.
The comments follow a report by researchers led by Rebecca Masters with the Universities of Liverpool and York saying recent £200m cuts to public health funding in the UK will cost £1.6bn -- eight times as much.
Cllr Linda Thomas, Vice Chair of the LGA's Community Wellbeing Board, said: 'Interventions to tackle teenage pregnancy, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, sexually transmitted infections and substance misuse cannot be seen as an added extra for health budgets.
'Reductions in councils' public health grants of more than £530m by the end of the decade will no doubt impact on councils' ability to continue this good work.
'To take vital money away from the services which can be used to prevent illness and the need for treatment later down the line and ease the pressure on the NHS is counter-productive.
'We need to move away from a focus on treating sickness to actively promoting health. Investing in prevention ultimately saves money for other parts of the public sector by reducing demand for hospital, health and social care services and ultimately improves the public's health.'
