This annual awareness week highlights the realities of poverty and this year focuses on the need to redesign the economy in a way which promotes social justice and sustainability. Action must be taken to boost people’s incomes, reduce the cost of living, and create a fair and green Scotland.

Poverty is one of the biggest drivers of poor health in society, and so is central to our work here at the GCPH.

We are pleased to be involved with Challenge Poverty Week for another year to turn the spotlight on the wide-ranging consequences of poverty and to highlight some important work to alleviate its effects and improve health and wellbeing.

#ChallengePoverty

Health in a changing city: Glasgow 2021

Our recent report provides a comprehensive analysis of changes in population, socioeconomic, environmental and health factors over the last 20 years within Glasgow, and in comparison, with Scotland.

Many of the challenges the city currently faces pre-existed prior to Covid-19 and these underlying social and health inequalities shaped and determined people’s experience of the pandemic and its impact on them.

Policy recommendations in the report focus on addressing health and social inequality, tackling gender-based and ethnic and racial inequalities, prioritising mental health especially of children and young people and the need to accelerate action on climate change. 

There are also recommendations about building a fairer economy including prioritising sectors of the economy that have been undervalued but were identified as essential during the pandemic such as our care and food economy workers. 

There is also a set of factsheets available to accompany the report, highlighting different areas of interest. 

Glasgow City Food Plan

Nutritious food is fundamental to our physical and mental health and is a human right. Levels of dietary ill health, such as obesity and diabetes, are high in Glasgow and too many people struggle to afford adequate amounts of healthy food.

The Glasgow City Food Plan takes into account the needs and priorities of the people of Glasgow and aims to enable everyone to be part of a more just, sustainable, healthy food system.

Find out more about the Glasgow City Food Plan on the Glasgow Food Policy Partnership website and you can also watch a short animation about the plan on our Youtube channel.

The unprecedented rise of mortality across poorer parts of the UK

In this blog, Danny Dorling discusses findings from a major study of mortality across UK countries and cities, and highlights unprecedented worsening mortality among the UK’s poorest communities.