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UCL in the News: Difference in life expectancy between the world's rich and poor peoples

7 September 2007

Life expectancy in the richest countries of the world now exceeds the poorest by more than 30 years, figures show.

Average life expectancy in Britain and similar countries of the OECD was 78.8 in 2000-05, an increase of more than seven years since 1970-75 and almost 30 years over the past century. In sub-Saharan Africa, life expectancy has increased by just four months since 1970, to 46.1 years.

Narrowing this "health gap" will involve going beyond the immediate causes of disease - poverty, poor sanitation and infection - to tackle the "causes of the causes" - the social hierarchies in which people live, the Global Commission on the Social Determinants of Health says in a report.

Professor Sir Michael Marmot, chairman of the commission established by the World Health Organisation in 2005, who first coined the term "status syndrome", said social status was the key to tackling health inequalities worldwide. …

"When people think about those in poor countries they tend to think about poverty, lack of housing, sanitation and exposure to infectious disease. But there is another issue, the social gradient in health which I called status syndrome." …

The study says: "The gradient is a worldwide occurrence, seen in low-income, middle-income and high-income countries. It means we are all implicated." …

Professor Marmot said: "We talk about three kinds of empowerment. If people don't have the material necessities - food to eat, clothes for their children - they cannot be empowered. The second kind is psycho-social empowerment: more control over their lives. The third is political empowerment: having a voice." …

Jeremy Laurance, 'The Independent'