Prioritizing quality housing, green spaces, and socioeconomic support could impact the government's ability to create a healthier population. 📸: Eliot Wyatt
spending in the UK was about £3 billion , which is 15 percent lower than it was six years before. We absolutely need to increase public health investment again—but more than that, we must consider health in every policy domain.
Consider poverty. About one in five people live in poverty in the UK. Poverty has a serious impact on physical and mental health: It is associated with higher infant mortality, lower adult life expectancy, poorer mental health, asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity. It has been estimated that getting your daily calories from healthy foods costs three times more than getting the same calories from poor quality food.
Housing is another big problem. According to the Health Foundation, one in three people report a problem with the affordability, security, or quality of their housing. Issues such as mold and damp can lead to respiratory problems and headaches. In January, a coroner called for better housing after ruling that a toddler had died from a respiratory condition caused by exposure to mold in his home. Overcrowding, among other things, increases exposure to infectious diseases.
Green spaces are another massive issue. There’s a lot of evidence now proving that exercise is like a miracle drug. There is also plenty of evidence that if you provide more open, free, green spaces to people, you end up with higher levels of physical activity and improved mental health. In 2020, the government itself estimated that if every citizen had access to green spaces it could save the NHS billions of pounds a year.
The government could prioritize quality housing, green spaces, and socioeconomic support. It could also address lack of work or insecure employment, indoor and outdoor pollution, and crime, all of which have considerable impacts on health. We need to realize that almost all governmental policies have an effect on public health and think more holistically about our longer-term health priorities.
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