IPPR calls for New Zealand style public health budget

The left leaning think tank, the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), has today published a report focusing on health disparities within England, and linked the variances to poverty, education and public health services.

The IPPR claims that there could be a three year boost to healthy life expectancy in England if what it calls a ‘disease of disparity’ is overcome.

According to the report, northern cities and suburbs, midlands cities and coastal cities are the areas where public health is being most negatively impacted through a combination of material conditions and a lack of health infrastructure.

The report highlights how healthy life expectancy in Nottingham was 14.6 years lower than in Wokingham.

The IPPR points to New Zealand’s Wellbeing budget as an example of a country successfully moving away from GDP as a sole measure of prosperity, to good effect.

It is calling for the UK government to ringfence £35 billion from the existing public finances for the explicit goal of maximising public health and reducing disparities through investment in social infrastructure.