§ Mr. Simon Hughesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement of his policy towards social inequalities in health and health care provision.
§ Mr. NewtonThe overall health of the nation has improved steadily amongst all social groups, and the Government have made significant increases in the resources available to the Health Service.
Unhealthy life-styles and unhealthy diets create major risks to health. The prevention of disease and the promotion of good health have always been primary 505W objectives of the Government's health policy. One of the Government's main aims in setting up the new Health Education Authority was to give a greater emphasis to disease prevention and health promotion. We are determined that all social groups, particularly the less well off, should have the information they need to protect their health. The first major campaign of the new authority, in conjunction with the Government, will be directed at coronary heart disease, which particularly affects people from lower socio-economic groups.
The Government remain committed to the principle of allocating health authority resources more fairly across the country using the resource allocation working party's approach. Substantial progress has been made in bringing regions closer to their RAWP targets, and this year no region is more than 4 per cent. below its target. The current review of the RAWP formula is looking, amongst other things, at whether the formula needs to be adjusted to make it more sensitive to the impact of social deprivation. An initial report on the review, published in December, recommended a further programme of research and analysis including further study of measures of the need for health care. This research is now under way.