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Geographical inequalities
in health
across the UK
Geographical Inequalities
The 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 Inequalities
The 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 Findings
The 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
Page 34, UK Social Issues ISBN 0 948766 62X
Evidence of Inequalities
Regional Scale (BBC News 2 December 1999)
Infant
mortality
rates
Children
in
poverty
Glasgow Shettleston
Death rates
(SMR
<65)
234
208
59%
Glasgow Springburn
217
202
60%
Glasgow Maryhill
196
188
63%
Glasgow Pollok
187
173
52%
Glasgow Anniesland
181
176
51%
Glasgow Baillieston
180
195
54%
Manchester Central
173
189
58%
UK
100
100
27%
Evidence of Inequalities
Regional Scale (BBC News 2 December 1999)
Infant
mortality
rates
Children
in
poverty
Wokingham
Death
rates (SMR
<65)
65
51
5%
Woodspring
65
60
12%
Romsey
65
58
12%
South Cambridgeshire
66
60
13%
South Norfolk
69
57
15%
Northavon
70
50
11%
Buckingham
71
57
11%
UK
100
100
27%
Geographical Inequalities
The 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 words, average incomes in Edinburgh are higher.

This reflects an era of high unemployment in Glasgow during the ’70s
and ’80s and although the situation has much improved in Glasgow, it
has left an accumulated legacy of poverty, social exclusion and ill
health.

On average, people in Edinburgh live 4 years longer than people in
Glasgow.
The Widening Gap (1999)
Regional Difference

The Report identified the worst 6 areas in
terms of ill health as being in Glasgow.
–

Glasgow
The areas included: Shettleston,
Springburn, Maryhill, Pollok,
Anniesland, Baillieston and Govan.
Glasgow had Scotland’s
– highest infant mortality rate of
103/1000
– 34% of people live in poverty
– 18.5% of men are unemployed, 13%
chronically sick
– in one year, 181 people will have died
under the age of 65, 63% of these
deaths could have been avoided.
Drumchapel
Bearsden
The Report also highlighted
the huge gap in the health of
people living in the poorest
areas and wealthiest areas of
Glasgow.
Two babies born one mile apart

One in Drumchapel and the other in
Kelvinside. The baby born in Drumchapel will
most likely be:
–
born underweight
–
live ten years less
–
twice as likely to die before its first birthday
–
three times more likely to die of heart disease
or bronchitis
–
three times more likely to die of breast cancer
–
twice as likely to die of lung cancer
– four times more likely to suffer from a
psychiatric disorder
–
2.5 times more likely to die before 65.
Recommendation


The publication of The
Widening Gap led to immediate
calls for urgent action to ease
the problems of poverty in
Glasgow and this resulted in an
increased allocation of funding
to Glasgow, especially the most
deprived areas.
The Report concluded that ‘’the
government would not be able
to reduce inequalities across
the UK unless it tackled poverty
through the redistribution of
income and wealth’’.