Health inequalities and the social determinants of health are not a footnote to the determinants of health. They are the main issue.
Empowerment of individuals and communities is absolutely central. Getting the community involved in organising their own destiny has got to be a key part of it.
There's good evidence that if people are disempowered, if they have little control over their lives, if they're socially isolated or unable to participate fully in society, then there are biological effects.
We have to put reduction of health inequalities at the centre of our public health strategy and that will require action on the social determinants of health.
The lower you are in the hierarchy the worse your health, the higher you are, the better your health.
Health and health inequalities tell us a great deal about the good or bad effects of social policies.
For every dollar spent on early child development you save $7 over the life course because children with better early child development are less likely to end up delinquent, involved in crime, unemployed and so on.
Low income is related to poorer housing, poorer diet, fewer social amenities, worse working conditions. (...) After adjustment for age, sex, race, smoking, alcohol consumption, sleep habits, leisure-time physical activity, chest pain, diabetes, or cancer, there was still an increase risk of 1.6 for those with inadequate incomes.
I don't blame people for smoking when I see a social gradient in smoking. I say we need to understand why is it the lower you are in the hierarchy the more likely you are to smoke. So we need to address the causes of the causes.
Saying we can't afford to invest in early child development means we're storing up bigger costs in the future.
Your position in the hierarchy influences your behaviour.
The brain is an important gateway by which the social environment impacts on people's health through the mind.
Australia is a very healthy country which goes along with the fact that it's very high on the Human Development Index, high wealth, good levels of education. So Australia ranks right up there, second or third on the Human Development Index. And Indigenous Australians, if you treated them as if they were a separate country, would rank probably about 100th or below 100.
... social environment in childhood affects achieved adult height, life chances, and ultimately mortality rates in adult life. (...) ... social circumstances acting in childhood do have a persisting effect on adult disease rates, in addition to influences acting in adulthood.
Once you get off the ladder you'll never get back on.
Throwing young people on the scrap heap is a public health emergency.
General improvements in health/decline in mortality do not affect all classes equally. As mortality rates fall, social inequalities commonly widen.
The differences between Indigenous and not Indigenous Australians can be easily attributed not to differences in their genes but to differences in the conditions in which they're born, grow, live, work and age - in other words, to the social determinants of health.
It's not just that people with no education have worse health. People with a bit of education at somewhat better, with a lot of education it's even better. And with even more education it's better still.
Our elected politicians do what they judge is the right thing to do. And if we disagree then I'll show them the evidence of why I disagree.
Angus Deaton has written a wonderful book, The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality. . . . Deaton's book is a magisterial overview of health, income, and wealth from the industrial revolution to the present, taking in countries poor and rich. Not just jargon-free but equation-free, the book is written with a beautifully lucid style. . . . [P]owerfully argued and convincing.
I was born in North London, migrated to Australia when I was four. So when I first came to Australia people saw me as a little English boy. Over the years that feeling of being a little English boy diminished and I felt much more Australian.
I've pursued a lifetime in the research on the social determinants of health and more recently been packaging not just my research but global research on this topic in a way that I hope will influence policy.
The academic life is wonderful. That's why people love to do research.
If people want me to go round and talk to governments and others then I feel that responsibility which is why I am on the road a good deal of the time and why I'm not slowing down.
