Academy research highlights Scotland’s health inequalities
The Health and Social Care Academy has published its latest thinkpiece, The Right To Health: Health Inequalities in Scotland, highlighting the issue of Scotland’s growing health inequalities.
The thinkpiece has been produced to coincide with a debate in the Scottish Parliament, led by representatives of the Health and Sport Committee, on the growing disparity between life expectancy in the most deprived and most affluent areas of Scotland. The thinkpiece highlights:
- The causes of health inequalities across Scotland
- The growing interdependence between poverty, health inequalities and long term conditions
- How to tackle health inequalities, including ensuring that people and the third sector are integral partners in planning and developing successful approaches
The Scottish Parliament debate, to be held on Thursday 26 March, will see MSPs consider progress of a long running inquiry into the issue of health inequalities.
Introducing the thinkpiece, the ALLIANCE’s Chief Executive Ian Welsh said: “We all have the right to the highest attainable standard of health and to the factors that enable this. But in Scotland today health inequalities remain a blight on our communities and resistant to successive waves of political commitment and resource investment. But achieving our goal will not only take a strengthening of the contribution of policies and plans to reducing health inequalities but also collective action is required to shape a healthier future. Focusing on the existing strengths within communities who experience long-term disadvantage can bring improvements in health to bear.”
The thinkpiece has been published with support from COPE Scotland, a community anchor organisation and community access mental health service based in Drumchapel whose focus is on the needs of local people and communities. COPE Scotland’s Chief Executive Officer, Hilda Campbell, said: “Health inequalities provide us with one of our most significant challenges as a society. We know the inequalities existing in Scottish society need to be addressed, and working together with communities things can change for the better, but it needs support from all levels. We must work together in a connected way in order to enable people and families to overcome or manage the additional challenges of inequality on people’s lives which unaddressed can result in unnecessary distress, poor health and a lack of wellbeing. Our partnerships with organisations including the ALLIANCE, the Royal College of Nursing and the Queens Nursing Institute Scotland prove crosssector commitments to work together with communities across Scotland can make a difference.”
