inequalities update

[Guest guest]

Browsing the DH website drew a new 'inequalities update' to my attention.  The 2010 'life expectancy' target is looking pretty well non-achievable, as the gap between life expectancy for 'routine and manual' compared tot he rest of the population has widened quite considerably since the baseline was set.  The infant mortality target is looking somewhat more feasible, having initially widened then fallen.  There is a summary in this latest update, of the infant mortality plan published in August, suggesting key actions that are needed.  They are:• meeting the 2010 target on child poverty – to halve the number of children in relative low-income households between 1998-99 and 2010-11, on the way to eradicating child poverty by 2020 – meeting this objective this would contribute three percentage points to the 10% IM target • reducing the prevalence of obesity in the R & M group by 23% to the current levels in the population as a whole – 2.8 percentage points to the target; • meeting the national target to reduce smoking in pregnancy in the R & M group from 23% to 15% - two percentage points; • improving housing and reducing overcrowding – 1.4 percentage points • reducing sudden unexpected deaths in infancy (SUDI) by persuading 1 in 10 women in the R & M group to avoid sharing a bed with their baby or putting their baby to sleep prone (on its front) – 1.4 percentage points; • achieving the teenage pregnancy strategy to reduce the under 18 conception rate in the R & M group – one percentage pointA focus here for health visiting services in some areas?  It has to be said that we carried out a review of 30 Children and Young People's Plans, and infant mortality was only a target in three of them; areas of deprivation did not seem to be any more aware of this national priority than elsewhere.best wishes

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