Birmingham teams up with Sir Michael Marmot to close ten-year life expectancy gap

Birmingham has launched a partnership with the Institute of Health Equity, led by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, to tackle the deep health inequalities between different parts of the city.

Partners from the NHS, the council, the police, universities and the voluntary, community and faith sectors met on 2 July to shape how the city will deliver on its ambition.

The scale of the challenge

Life expectancy in Birmingham is below the England average, and there is a ten-year gap between the most deprived and most affluent parts of the city. Almost a third of children, 32.5 per cent, live in absolute low-income families, rising to three in four in the most deprived areas. Unemployment in the city is 7.8 per cent, nearly double the national figure of 4.6 per cent.

The Marmot approach

The work will apply the Marmot approach, an evidence-based framework for tackling the social causes of poor health, such as income, education, employment and housing. It will run in two phases: first identifying priorities, including children's education and employment, racial inequalities and changing how services work together; then recommendations and implementation, with measurable goals meant to last beyond the two-year partnership.

"We know that these inequalities are not inevitable," said Councillor Nosheen Khalid, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care.

Professor Marmot said working in the UK's second city was an exciting opportunity to improve the lives of more than a million residents. The event also launched the Birmingham Health Equity Network, which organisations and individuals can join to help shape the work.