What is the public health white paper all about?
Today's white paper on public health provides the government with its biggest opportunity yet to improve the health of the nation. For all the many sensible reforms it has put in place and its record investment in treatment services, an explicit focus now needs to take place to address the three biggest modern day threats to health - obesity, alcohol and tobacco, as well as to improve sexual health. Binge drinking and obesity have soared, with two-thirds of the adult population now deemed overweight. Over a quarter (26%) of the population still smokes, despite years of notice of its terrible effects on health. On sexual health, rates of gonorrhoea, syphilis and chlamydia have risen, suggesting public health messages on condom use are being widely ignored. At the sharp end of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/Aids is already costing the NHS £90m a year. The government white paper will seek to address these problems by focusing more on prevention through health promotion areas, and thus avoid the cost to individuals and the state of curing disease,

What is it expected to say?
The white paper is expected to take a leaf out of the Wanless report on the NHS, published in 2002. Commissioned by the Treasury, the report has already succeeded in convincing the chancellor to stump up extra cash for the health service after the former banker, Derek Wanless, highlighted 25 years of under-investment in the NHS. The government is now expected to address the second message built into the report - that the population needs to be "actively engaged" in pursuit of better health outcomes. The alternative is a £30bn bill to the NHS over the next 16 years, to fund the health implications of unhealthy lifestyle choices. The white paper is expected to draw heavily on this principle of engagement.

What kind of measures are we likely to see?
The white paper has been widely tipped to suggest strict new curbs to stem rising obesity rates. It is expected to ban advertising of junk food to children, and introduce much clearer guidance - via a traffic light colour scheme - to warn consumers of foods with too much salt, sugar and fat. The government is expected to introduce a new health MOT which will provide people with free personal diet and fitness plans, all of which will be welcomed by health reformers though it remains unclear where the army of staff to deliver these ideals will be found.

On smoking, measures just short of a ban are expected to be introduced, with only private clubs and pubs where no food is served permitted to have smoking on their premises. Pub "happy hours" - where drink flows for half the price to encourage consumption - will disappear.

A few choice targets are also expected to make their way in the white paper. The government already has its sights on reducing smoking by 5% to 21% by 2010, for example.

Who will deliver all these health promotion ideals?
The government will tap into the expertise of nursing and medical staff, and is likely to cultivate a tier of volunteers to help with some of the new initiatives that require limited training. The Guardian has already revealed how frontline public health staff will be expected to serve as public health role models. To this end, the government will target qualified nurses to quit smoking, and it has been rumoured that future NHS staff will be screened prior to employment to ensure they are not excessively overweight, and do not smoke or binge-drink. Councils are expected to play their role, with a view to their licensing powers - which will determine pub opening hours - and may in the future grant smoking licences to make public smoking the exception, rather than the rule. The government is also trying to get business on board, such as drink manufacturers and supermarkets, to take part in better labelling to ensure people, for example, know how many units of alcohol they are consuming, how many grams of fats they are eating. This will be similar to the way tobacco companies are already bound to place prominent public health warnings on cigarette packets.

But is the government offering conflicting messages?
Calls for kids to get off the couch and do something more healthy instead sticks in the throats of some parents on low incomes who have seen their local swimming pool closed down by the council, or have no safe play area provided for them to go to. With inner city councils like Hackney, for example, stalling over a decision to reopen the local pool while talking about building a £64m town hall, local parents are wondering how seriously they are being supported in the mission to ensure children become more fit and active. The challenge of feeding children a healthy diet on low incomes also needs to be addressed, though breakfast clubs - being introduced in some schools - is an effort to tackle this head on.

On smoking, the government message that it is a major threat to health is being somewhat undermined by its refusal to introduce a ban on smoking in public places, as Scotland did last week. Many say this is a mixed message to the wider public on the dangers facing smokers and non-smokers alike.

Meanwhile, a new act dealing with Britain's licensing laws will lead to pubs and clubs opening around the clock from next summer. The idea behind this is to curb the binge-drink culture - which encourages pub dwellers to fit in as many drinks in before 11pm - and to move to the more leisurely continental pace of drinking, backed by longer opening times. But critics fear what will actually happen is a continuation of binge-drinking without time limit, fuelling alcohol-related crime, and disease.

Why hasn't all this been done before?
The issue is politically-charged, with the New Labour government afraid to be accused of taking unacceptable steps into the private sphere and creating a "nanny state", a charge likely to be levelled by the Conservative party when the white paper is unveiled. To this end, New Labour has reframed the exercise as a case of "rights and responsibilities", with individuals taking responsibility for their own welfare in exchange for support from the state when they need it. The health inequalities across the country - in poor parts of London, Manchester and Liverpool four out of 10 people aged over 35 die from smoking-related diseases - requires the government to grasp the nettle. What many are concerned about is how will this be done, to avoid a punitive approach to people who feel unable to curb their unhealthy habits. All eyes are on the white paper to discover the government's proposed tactics.