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Leading health advocates express concerns about commonwealth games partnerships with health harming products

Leading health organisations, including Alcohol Focus Scotland, are expressing serious concerns following Jubel X and Coca Cola having been announced as official partners for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

NCD Alliance Scotland, a coalition of 25 health organisations campaigning for action on health harming products, fear the partnerships risk tarnishing an opportunity for the Games to deliver a positive health and wellbeing legacy for young people across the country.

Non-communicable diseases are the leading cause of ill health and around one in five deaths due to NCDs in Scotland could be prevented by reducing consumption of tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy food and drinks.

In an open letter to Phil Batty OBE, Chief Executive Officer of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, NCD Alliance Scotland members, which include Alcohol Focus Scotland, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), Obesity Action Scotland and ASH Scotland, have requested a meeting to discuss how the Games can make a lasting shift away from associations with health harming products.

David McColgan, Chair, NCD Alliance Scotland, said: “The Commonwealth Games is an ideal opportunity to showcase both Glasgow and Scotland at their best, and inspire children and young people to become healthier and more active.

“Although we welcome the organisers’ commitment to allocating smoke and vape free family zones, promoting Scotland’s Quit Your Way stop smoking services and providing free drinking water, we have serious concerns about the impact of the Jubel X and Coca Cola sponsorships on young people.

“Evidence shows that young people are likely to start drinking earlier and consume more the more often they are exposed to alcohol marketing, and the Coca Cola brand, which is linked with high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products, risks shaping the perceptions and preferences of children watching the sports.

“It is highly counter intuitive for the marketing of products at odds with the highest ideals of sport, and risks tarnishing any positive health and wellbeing legacy the Games might bring to Glasgow, a city with the highest alcohol death rate in the country, and across Scotland where health inequalities continue to grow.”