ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the evidence and related policy proposals concerned with inequalities in health. It takes as its starting point the findings of the Black Report (DHSS 1980).
ONE OF THE FOUNDING PRINCIPLES of the NHS at its inception in 1948 was equity. This meant that the financial worry associated with medical treatment should be removed by the provision of a free service. Despite this, significant differences persist in both the health, and incidence of disease, in the population. This chapter will explore some of the evidence to suggest that, whether individuals or their children are healthy or unhealthy, or whether they die prematurely, is not just a matter of
fortune but is linked to one’s position in the social hierarchy and is, thus, structural.
