As we start to tentatively look toward the future, we need to think about how we build back a fairer Greater Manchester after the pandemic.
A recent review commissioned by the Partnership has laid bare the link between economic and health inequality, showing how coronavirus has hit poorer people hardest.
Though this has been a problem across the entire country, we now know Greater Manchester had a 25% higher COVID-19 death rate than England as a whole in the 13 months to March 2021.
This high death rate contributed to a decline in life expectancy in the North West region, which was larger than the average in England. Life expectancy fell in 2020 by 1.6 years for men and 1.2 years for women in the North West, compared to 1.3 years and 0.9 years, respectively, across England.
The recently published Build back fairer in Greater Manchester report, from the UCL Institute of Health Equity (IHE) includes a framework setting out bold and ambitious recommendations on how to reduce health inequities.
In the review the director of the IHE, Professor Sir Michael Marmot, has proposed a “moral and practical” plan for government investment in jobs, housing, local services and education to tackle longstanding health and social inequalities in Greater Manchester and similar areas.
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