If people and politicians can understand the sense of what we are saying, they are far more likely to make decisions that will benefit themselves and others.

Effective communications is one of the cornerstones on which our 25-year Better Health Fairer Health strategy is built.

So I was doubly glad to learn a few days ago that two North East public health campaigns had received recognition for their communications skills from an organisation that should know what it is talking about.

The Big Drink Debate and Let’s Make Smoking History for our Children both scooped regional gold awards from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

The first – by Balance - was designed to tell us more about our relationship with alcohol, and hopefully give us some pointers about how we can change the culture and reduce excessive drinking.

More than 12,000 people completed a survey, making it the biggest public health activity of its kind in the North East.

The aim of the second - by Fresh - was to inform and influence opinion about proposals to protect children from smoking in the Health Act 2009, which received Royal Assent this week.

Its success was illustrated by the thousands of people who signed postcards of support, the excellent partnership work between NHS primary care trusts and local authorities and the overwhelming support from North East MPs in the Commons last month.

The idea is to use football’s huge popularity in this region to urge men to think more seriously about their health problems.