International report highlights health inequalities in Glasgow and Scotland

The World Health Organization published "Closing the gap in a generation : health equity through action on the social determinants of health" on 28th August.

From the WHO press release:
A child born in a Glasgow, Scotland suburb can expect a life 28 years shorter than another living only 13 kilometres away. A girl in Lesotho is likely to live 42 years less than another in Japan. In Sweden, the risk of a woman dying during pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 17 400; in Afghanistan, the odds are 1 in 8. Biology does not explain any of this. Instead, the differences between - and within - countries result from the social environment where people are born, live, grow, work and age.

These "social determinants of health" have been the focus of a three-year investigation by an eminent group of policy makers, academics, former heads of state and former ministers of health. Together, they comprise the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health."

WHO news release “Inequities are killing people on a "grand scale" reports WHO's Commission” available here

Report & background material here

Heath and wellbeing profiles for CHP areas

A new set of health and wellbeing profiles for CHP areas in Scotland has been published by the Scottish Public Health Observatory. The new profiles comprise 61 indicators of health and wider determinants of health. There are individual profile reports for 30 of the CHP areas in Scotland. Profiles for the 10 Community Health (and Care) Partnership areas in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde have been produced separately by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, although these are accessible via the ScotPHO website. In addition to the individual CHP profile reports, ScotPHO have produced a Scotland Overview report (including data for NHS boards) and a full technical report. The profiles should highlight health and social inequalities, show trends in key indicators, and provide local information for targeting resources and priority setting. The profiles can be found here.

UK indicators of poverty and social exclusion

The New Policy Institute has produced its tenth annual report of indicators of poverty and social exclusion in the United Kingdom, providing a comprehensive analysis of trends and differences between groups. Its principal conclusion is that the strategy against poverty and social exclusion pursued since the late 1990s is now largely exhausted.

The report can be found on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website. Links to Scottish statistics are also provided.

Study shows how the NHS fails to deliver in poor areas

In a study of general practices in the west of Scotland, researchers from the University of Glasgow have found that :
- Patients in poor areas had a greater number of psychological problems;
- Patients in poor areas suffer from more long-term illness and larger numbers of different chronic health problems;
- Despite having more problems to discuss, consultations in deprived areas were generally shorter than in affluent areas;
- Doctors in deprived areas reported being under greater stress, especially after long consultations;
- For patients with psychological problems in deprived areas, the consultation with their GP was less helpful than it was for patients with psychological problems in affluent areas.

The reference for the original journal article is:
Mercer, SW and Watt, GCM (2007) The Inverse Care Law: Clinical Primary Care Encounters in Deprived and Affluent Areas of Scotland. Annals of family medicine 5(6) 503-10
Click here for full text from publisher - Athens account required:
http://www.annfammed.org/cgi/content/full/5/6/503