How Britain can recover from being the ‘literal sick man of Europe’
Health and wealth are strongly interlinked and the IPPR cross-party three-year commission on health and prosperity highlights this.
The report delivers a damning verdict calling the UK the “literal sick man of Europe”.
It is clear that austerity has left a damaging legacy on the health of the nation while Covid has also set Britain back.
The commission found that the UK’s worsening public health crisis is linked to the country’s faltering economic performance.
Region’s like Yorkshire have felt the sharp end of health inequality, which then feeds into economic inactivity.
Ill-health is the biggest driver of rising levels of economic inactivity but there has been little emphasis on tackling health outcomes.
Initiatives such as the recently launched Pathways to Work in Barnsley could help get more people into work. However, there will need to be far more widespread support across the country.
As Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and member of the Commission on Health and Prosperity, says: “Devolution in England is the game-changer we need to make this possible and improve the health of the nation. Combined authorities are breaking down the Whitehall silos and piloting new whole-person, whole-places approaches to health creation.”
And unless the underlying health inequalities are dealt with, the economy will continue to stagnate.
The Government’s ambition to grow the economy will not be realised unless it fixes the healthcare system.
Economic inactivity due to sickness could hit 4.3 million by the end of this parliament, up from 2.8 million today, if trends continue. That’s why health inequality should be a priority for this Government.