§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the recent publication, "The Widening Gap", by Bristol University, on inequalities in health provision. [101689]
§ Yvette CooperI was interested to see this report which suggests that there are a number of key determinants which impact on health and health inequalities.
The former Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Holborn and St. Pancras (Mr. Dobson), appointed Sir Donald Acheson to carry out an inquiry into health inequalities. Sir Donald's report, published in November 1998, described the socio-economic determinants of health inequalities and made 581W recommendations which contributed to the development of our health strategy, "Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation". A key aim of our strategy is to reduce health inequalities and narrow the health gap.
In "Reducing Health Inequalities: An action report" published with "Saving Lives" we identified some of the key actions we are taking across Government to tackle health inequalities.