If you remove London from GDP figures, the UK’s national income is the same as Mississippi, the poorest US state. That’s according to leading authority on health inequalities Prof Sir Michael Marmot, who highlighted the startling statistic at the Healthy City Design International Congress 2023 in Liverpool, in October.
Dr Carlos Dora has a distinguished career in global public health and environment. Until recently, he co-ordinated the World Health Organization’s global work on health impacts of sector policies (energy, transport, housing, extractive industry) and on articulating a global response to air pollution.
This keynote describes some strategic steps – such as the complementary use of health impact assessment, quantification of health impacts, and linking climate and health actions to national and global policy processes – to apply a systems-based approach to taking action on climate, health and equity.
When it comes to addressing health equity, of which housing is a key issue, there are three pieces to the puzzle – firstly, there is a need to centre policy and solutions around the people who are affected by this injustice; there is a need to act across sectors and with different players who can make a difference; and there is a need to shift away from a focus on individual behaviour.
