Reframing the impact of business on health: the interface of corporate, commercial, political and social determinants of health

► The current approach to assessing the role of the for-profit sector in health is too narrow, fails to consider the varied activities of the diverse constellation of private companies, and there has been some, albeit limited, work done to empirically evaluate their impact.► Existing approaches rarely articulate a positive vision or actions for business, lack the necessary specificity required to hold individuals to account and may alienate important actors through a persistently negative approach.► A reframed and expanded inquiry that includes the type of organisation and reviews the internal processes (eg, employee relations and physical infrastructure) and external processes (eg, product and/ or service delivery and lobbying) could strengthen efforts to manage the responsibility of business for health, which will require combining existing academic endeavours concerning the corporate, commercial, social and political determinants of health.► Possible advantages of a reframed model include guidance of empirical research, strengthened advocacy efforts and an improved ability to work across sectors; ultimately, this will also help health professionals to be much clearer in determining if and when they should or should not be entering into partnerships with for-profit entities.