ABSTRACT
On the specific problem of medical care and the health of the poor, no one disputed the basic and long-recognized correlation. When taken in the aggregate, the poorer a person is, the worse her or his health status is. Despite notable improvements in overall morbidity and mortality, the differences in the health status of the several British occupational classes remained great. Conferees were unanimous in their view that the social and economic costs of the disturbing health status of many of the poor were a serious impediment to the future. Unanimous was the feeling that the US health care system seriously fails too many of its citizens at the bottom of the economic ladder. Considerable evidence was advanced to suggest that directing resources at relieving social deprivation resulted in the most noticeable improvements in health.
