Health inequality gap ‘Victorian’
A new survey suggests that despite numerous initiatives the health differences between the rich and the poor are akin to the Victorian era.
A study found an 11-year difference between the life expectancy of those living in Kensington and Chelsea (82.4 years), Britain’s most advantaged area, and Glasgow City (72.9 years), the nation’s most disadvantaged.
Researchers from Bristol and Sheffield universities found health inequalities widened in the 1980s and 1990s despite numerous government interventions.
They forecasted inequalities would further widen in the coming decades as income differentials increase and urged more “substantial redistributive policies”.
Despite a pledge by the Labour government in 2001 to cut infant mortality and increase life expectancy in Britain’s poorest areas by 2010, researchers found no evidence that the gap between rich and poor had been reduced.
Professor Danny Dorling from Sheffield university said life expectancy had risen in the most advantaged areas of the country “at a greater pace” than in the poorest areas.
“This is despite much government rhetoric proclaiming its intention to tackle health inequalities. Moreover, for almost 20 years now, income inequality has remained at a historically high level,” he said.
Dr Mary Shaw from Bristol University said Labour’s policies on closing the health gap were failing.
“When you compare the wealthiest areas to the poorest, instead of comparing the poorest areas to the national average as the Government likes to do, it is clear that, although income inequalities are showing a slight improvement, the gap between the health of the richest and poorest is still getting wider,” she added.
Andrew Lansley, Conservative health spokesman, said Labour failed to reverse the trend of health inequalities across Britain.
“Only yesterday John Reid said the Government was committed to tackling health inequalities, but this is all talk,” he said.
But a Labour spokesman insisted the government’s policy was starting to see results.
“We have seen this in a reduction of death from heart disease through the widespread use of statins [which reduce cholesterol] and success in our smoking cessation courses in some of the most deprived areas,” he said.
The report entitled “Health Inequalities and New Labour: How the promises compare with real progress” is published today in the British Medical Journal.
