Fair Society, Health Lives, The Marmot Review

Just published is the Fair Society, Healthy Lives, Marmot Review, set up by Secretary of State for Health Alan Johnson in response to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Commission on Social Determinants of Health in 2008. Supported by Johnson’s successor Andy Burnham the review was chaired by Michael Marmot, chair of the WHO Commission, and was tasked with gathering the evidence around health inequalities in England and advising on the development of a strategy.

The report unearthed several findings including the figure of 2.5 million years of lost extra life in England due to premature death caused by health inequalities and that there is a definite social gradient in health, a lower social position means worse health, and that action should focus on reducing this gradient.

To read the full report, w. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/gheg/marmotreview