Geographical inequalitiesin healthacross the UK.ppt

Geographical inequalitiesin healthacross the UK Geographical InequalitiesThe Widening Gap This report was published (1999) by the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research. The study was carried out by Bristol University into health inequalities. Contributors included doctors, geographers and experts on government policy. They studied the statistics (health rates, education, earnings, unemployment and life expectancy) in all the constituencies in the UK and produced a league table in terms of wealth and health. Geographical InequalitiesThe Widening Gap Findings They confirmed that evidence showed there was a north-south divide in health. That this gap was widening. That the six worst health areas in the UK were in Glasgow. And that the main cause was poverty. Geographical FindingsThe Widening Gap Findings The Report identified that geographical inequalities in ill health existed in the UK on national and regional levels. A north-south divide exists in terms of the wealth and health of the people. The poorest places in the UK were in Scotland. The worst six areas in terms of wealth and health were in Glasgow. A causal link existed between poverty and ill health. Geographical Inequalities Evidence of InequalitiesRegional Scale (BBC News 2 December 1999) Evidence of InequalitiesRegional Scale (BBC News 2 December 1999) Geographical InequalitiesThe Widening Gap Findings Children living in the worst households were twice as likely to die in infancy as their peers in wealthy areas in the SE of England. At school they were 1.5 times more likely to fail exams and 3.6 times more likely to fail to get a job when they left. Those who did get jobs earned 25% less. Glasgow / Edinburgh Their findings not only identified a north-south divide but also differences between cities. Together, Glasgow and Edinburgh produced more than 52% of Scotland’s GDP in 1999. But GDP per capita for Edinburgh was 33% higher than that for Glasgow - in other wor