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Local authorities ‘urgently' need the resources to tackle massive health inequalities in Britain, senior council leaders have warned. London Councils backed a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which revealed vast inequalities across the UK. It claimed the life expectancy of a boy growing up in the deprived east Glaswegian suburb of Carlston was 54, compared with a boy born a few miles away in Lenzie, East Dunbartonshire, who would be expected to live to 82. The WHO blames worldwide inequality on a ‘toxic combination of bad policies, economics and politics'. London Councils executive member for health and adult services, Cllr Mike Freer, urged the Government to provide councils with the means to tackle ‘entrenched' poverty, which leads to ill health. He said: ‘Our health inequalities need to be addressed urgently. ‘While investment in the health service is important, it is essential that local authorities receive the funding they need to tackle deeply-entrenched levels of poverty, which lie at the root of health inequalities.' Although the WHO report doesn't call on councils to step in, its executive summary makes 26 uses of the word ‘local'. A spokesman from the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) said councils and local service providers had ‘the most important' role to play in addressing health inequalities. A CLG spokesman pointed to the empowerment White Paper as a way forward on this. ‘The White Paper plans to give more opportunity to get directly involved in managing and shaping how local services are delivered,' he said. Health secretary, Alan Johnson, said he expected the Government to reach its target of reducing health inequalities by 10% in two years' time.

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HEALTH

Health inequalities need extra resources

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