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Health inequalities
Over the last 50 years, there have been impressive social economic and health improvements in this country. People from every class and region are healthier and living longer than ever before. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to share the benefits of these improvements. It is essential that everyone is empowered and encouraged to do so.
Health inequalities are unacceptable. They start early in life and persist not only into old age but subsequent generations. Tackling health inequalities is a top priority for this Government, and it is focused on narrowing the health gap between disadvantaged groups, communities and the rest of the country, and on improving health overall.
Concerted action to reduce the health gap permeates our programmes within the Department of Health and is supported across Government. The Secretary of State for health has announced a new comprehensive strategy for reducing health inequalities, confirmed in the Our NHS Our future: NHS next stage review - interim report. The new strategy will challenge the NHS, as a key player, to live up to its founding and enduring values of universality and fairness addressing unjustified gaps in health status, fair access to NHS services for all and good outcomes for all.
Progress and Next Steps
Health Inequalities - Progress and Next Steps outlines the Government’s approach to hit the 2010 Health Inequalities PSA targets, assessing what has and hasn’t worked, and setting the direction of travel beyond 2010.
Programme for Action
Tacking Health Inequalities: A Programme for Action was launched in July 2003 and is the current Health Inequalities cross government strategy. Backed by twelve departments, the Programme lays the foundation for meeting the government's targets to reduce the health gap on infant mortality and life expectancy by 2010. Reversing this widening gap between social groups is a major challenge and the Programme emphasises the need to improve health and the factors that contribute to health faster in disadvantaged areas than elsewhere.
Status Report on the Programme for Action
Progress against the national strategy is set out in an annual Status Report on health inequalities. The report assesses progress against the target, against 12 cross governments headline indicators and the 82 government commitments included in the Programme for Action.
PSA target
The documents below show the latest monitoring data for the two specific objectives relating to the health inequalities national target - infant mortality and life expectancy. The latest data shows that the trend has widened since baseline, however, there are some signs of success. To review this data in a wider context, further information is available in Tackling health inequalities: 2004-06 data and policy update for the 2010 national target (via the link below).
Wider social determinants
Health inequalities are the result of a complex and wide-ranging network of factors. People who experience material disadvantage, poor housing, lower educational attainment, insecure employment or homelessness are among those more likely to suffer poorer health outcomes and an earlier death compared with the rest of the population.
Health inequalities useful links
External websites relevant to redressing health inequalities in the UK.
Health inequalities guidance and publications
Guidance documents and other publications about the Department of Health's drive to redress UK health inequalities.
Additional links
Travelling?
CSDH International Conference live webcast 6 and 7 November 2008
Hosted by the Secretary of State for Health, the Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson MP, the International Conference on the work of the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health will be webcast live from London.
Health inequalities intervention tool
Developed by the Department of Health and the Association of Public Health Observatories to help local health services in Spearhead areas improve life expectancy and meet the PSA target to narrow the gaps in life expectancy and infant mortality.
Data update for the national 2010 PSA target
Tackling health inequalities: 2004-06 data and policy update for the 2010 national target
This document provides an update on progress to meet the health inequalities national target to reduce the gap as measured by infant mortality and life expectancy, by 10% by 2010. It includes an assessment of whether the 70 spearhead area local authorities, which map to 62 PCTs, are on track to meet the life expectancy target.
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