Journal of epidemiology and community health
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J Epidemiol Community Health · Jul 2011
Historical ArticleCan we reduce health inequalities? An analysis of the English strategy (1997-2010).
England was the first European country to pursue a systematic policy to reduce socio-economic inequalities in health. This paper assesses whether this strategy has worked, and what lessons can be learnt. ⋯ This is due to the fact that it did not address the most relevant entry-points, did not use effective policies and was not delivered at a large enough scale for achieving population-wide impacts. Health inequalities can only be reduced substantially if governments have a democratic mandate to make the necessary policy changes, if demonstrably effective policies can be developed, and if these policies are implemented on the scale needed to reach the overall targets.