Why the poor die young: implications for COVID-19
Prof Arpana Verma — Head of the Division of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care
Professor Arpana Verma is Head of the Division of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care. She is Director of Manchester Urban Collaboration on Health (MUCH) a WHO Collaborating Centre (2015–2019) and honorary Consultant in Public Health at PHE. MUCH performs high quality research, teaching and training, in the field of public health and has established links to local, national and international public health organisations (www.manchester.ac.uk/much). She was PI EURO-URHIS 2 funded by DG Research under the FP7 programme and is also the founding president of the European Public Health Association section on Urban Health. MUCH continues to work with health indicators and Urban Health working as part of the European Health Information Initiative and the Global Report on Urban Health. With Professor Andy Brass, she leads the i3HS Hub. She is Programme Director for the Masters in Public Health and MRes in Public Health/Primary Care, organised International Festival of Public Health, International Conference on Urban Health 2014 and CPD .
Download Prof Verma’s presentation.
This presentation was made for European Public Health Week by The University of Manchester’s Master of Public Health programme in partnership with the Urban Public Health section of the European Public Health Association.
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European Public Health Week
This presentation took place on Thursday 14th May 2020, and the theme for the day was “Equal health for all”
More equality in health will create more equal societies. Improving health and well-being for all will bring wider economic, social and environmental benefits. The circumstances in which we are born, grow up, live, work and age should not affect our chance of good health. How does your region ensure equal health for all?
Key messages
1. At a time of crisis due to COVID-19, we must ensure that the same protection and services are afforded to everyone in society and be particularly mindful of the most vulnerable. Vulnerable groups must be protected from the adverse impacts of the pandemic response measures as well as from the coronavirus itself
2. The health sector’s actions and interventions are necessary but health inequalities will not be eradicated by health systems alone. Only if we have the political and communication skills can the public health community work with sectors outside of health — agriculture, education, housing, industry, and others contributing to better living conditions — to reducing inequalities and improving health and well-being for all.
3. Evidence alone will not bring about behaviour change. What is needed is a political commitment to bring about change. For this, all drivers influencing health, including the social, political and commercial determinants, need to be taken into account.
4. Ill health among the most disadvantaged is not simply bad luck or the result of poor health care but results from a combination of unfair economic arrangements, poor social policies, and stigma.
5. All actors in public health policy should commit to leaving no one behind, voicing knowledge, translating evidence to politics, building capacity and including health in all policies.
6. Reducing health inequalities is crucial to ensure better health for the population as a whole, which will result in a positive development of the society.
Other facts and figures
· In some countries, for some indicators, there have been improvements but unfortunately, most factors influencing health equality have not changed in the last ten years.
· There is a housing crisis and a rise in homelessness; an increasing number of people have insufficient money to lead a healthy life; and there are more ignored communities with poor conditions and little reason for hope.
· National programmes in various European countries to tackle health inequalities have so far been only partly successful, and have shown that we need to re-think what is needed to measurably reduce health inequalities.
· Stigma not only directly impacts health, but it may also lead to economic disadvantages, disadvantages in the healthcare system, and risk for homelessness; all with their own toll on health. Many vulnerable groups deal with stigmas based on various motivations: xenophobia, racism, homophobia etc.
Further resources
The Marmot Review 10 Years On: http://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/marmot-review-10-years-on
Reducing social inequalities in cancer: Evidence and priorities for research (International Agency for Research on Cancer — IARC): https://publications.iarc.fr/Book-And-Report-Series/Iarc-Scientific-Publications/Reducing-Social-Inequalities-In-Cancer-Evidence-And-Priorities-For-Research-2019
EuroHealthNet Policy Briefings: https://eurohealthnet.eu/publications/policy-precis
EuroHealthNet Annual Reports: https://eurohealthnet.eu/publications/annual-reports
Class Inequalities in Health and the Coronavirus: A cruel irony? (University of Surrey blog) https://blogs.surrey.ac.uk/sociology/2020/03/23/class-inequalities-in-health-and-the-coronavirus-a-cruel-irony/
