(Monday 1 September 2008)
The killer fact used by the WHO as its main news hook was this - a boy born in the Glasgow's Calton district in the impoverished East End will live, on average, 28 years less than a boy born in the plush suburb of Lenzie just a few miles away. And, with an average life expectancy of just 53, the Calton citizen can expect 10 years less life than even the average in India.
Now, we all knew that in Scotland already. Anyone who has been to the Calton and to Lenzie would be able to see it in plain view. The report is no less shocking for this.
What is more shocking is that, having known this, we have collectively failed to address the roots of poverty and ill health even in a rich country.
The WHO survey is a shaming indictment on decades of Labour government in the city where I live and of the current Labour government in Westminster. True, there has been lots of work done to tackle health inequalities, especially in Glasgow, where the problem has been most persistent. There are healthy eating projects and well-man clinics and, of course, there is the smoking ban. So there should be and I applaud all of that. But these are almost literally sticking plasters on a gaping wound.
As our society grows richer but increasingly unequal, the poorest are less healthy. That fact is the one that we have to address.
But the WHO report isn't just about Scotland, though it chose us for its headline-grabbing press release. It supports the view held by socialists and progressives all over the world. Poor health is caused by poverty and by inequality. Rich countries with highly unequal societies like the United States have poorer health than many poorer countries, the most obvious comparison being Cuba.
The WHO has set out the problem in stark terms. Inequality breeds unhealthy societies. This conclusion is supported by a huge body of evidence from across the globe.
Based on this compelling evidence, the commission makes three overarching recommendations to tackle the "corrosive effects of inequality of life chances."
Improve daily living conditions, including the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.
Tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money and resources - the structural drivers of those conditions - globally, nationally and locally.
Acknowledge that there is a problem and ensure that health inequity is measured, within countries and globally, as a vital platform for action.
This is a revolutionary manifesto. The second point alone demands a massive transformation of the social relations on our planet if we are to provide a reasonable life for all. I'm up for that. Starting with Glasgow.
View the report at www.who.int/social_determinants
Coming in at 357 in the 2008 Sunday Times rich list with a fortune of £230 million in land and art, Eton-educated Francis Egerton is looking to liquidise two of his assets for a cool £100 million and we are expected to pay him off.
Diana and Actaeon, a painting by Titian from the 1550s, is being offered "to the nation" at the knockdown price of £50 million. This is supposedly a third of its estimated "market value." A second painting, Diana and Callisto, will follow at the same price if we stump up for the first.
The pictures have been part of the Bridgewater Loan, which is "valued" at £1 billion, at the National Gallery in Edinburgh, where director John Leighton is now creaming his jeans with excitement at the prospect of having the pictures permanently.
Apparently, the Scottish government is looking favourably at purchasing the two Titians for the nation. This is the government which refuses to step in and fund a decent living wage for cleaners, classroom assistants, coastguards and other public servants who have been on strike for better pay.
Why should we pay off the Duke of Sutherland with £100 million and tell the school janitors to make do with 2.5 per cent? I say that the nation should have the paintings by right, without compensation to the descendant of a family which stole the land from the people and has lived well off the ill-gotten gains ever since. Nationalise the Duke's paintings and his land and let him eat cake like the rest of us.
The trades union councils are the grass roots voice of the STUC, making the link within local communities and their annual conference remains a key part of the STUC policy agenda.
The Communities Conference will focus on local regeneration and seek to separate the fact from the fiction. You can see the agenda at http://tinyurl.com/5sept08
Further details and registration for these conferences are available from the STUC on (0141) 337-8100 or by emailing lsanderson@stuc.org.uk
IT'S still a while away, but the Scottish Cuba Solidarity Campaign is having a comedy night on Wednesday October 22 at the Stand in Glasgow. Tickets are £7/£5 available from SCSC. The last time the Stand hosted a similar event it was a great night, so the campaign hopes for another success this time. Book your tickets now by emailing scottishcuba@yahoo.co.uk
MALCOLM BURNS reviews the latest goings-on in Scotland.
Disgrace of poverty
THE World Health Organisation published a report on the "social determinants of health" last week. The subject was the focus of a definitive three-year investigation by a commission of eminent policy-makers, academics, former heads of state and former ministers of health.The killer fact used by the WHO as its main news hook was this - a boy born in the Glasgow's Calton district in the impoverished East End will live, on average, 28 years less than a boy born in the plush suburb of Lenzie just a few miles away. And, with an average life expectancy of just 53, the Calton citizen can expect 10 years less life than even the average in India.
Now, we all knew that in Scotland already. Anyone who has been to the Calton and to Lenzie would be able to see it in plain view. The report is no less shocking for this.
What is more shocking is that, having known this, we have collectively failed to address the roots of poverty and ill health even in a rich country.
The WHO survey is a shaming indictment on decades of Labour government in the city where I live and of the current Labour government in Westminster. True, there has been lots of work done to tackle health inequalities, especially in Glasgow, where the problem has been most persistent. There are healthy eating projects and well-man clinics and, of course, there is the smoking ban. So there should be and I applaud all of that. But these are almost literally sticking plasters on a gaping wound.
As our society grows richer but increasingly unequal, the poorest are less healthy. That fact is the one that we have to address.
But the WHO report isn't just about Scotland, though it chose us for its headline-grabbing press release. It supports the view held by socialists and progressives all over the world. Poor health is caused by poverty and by inequality. Rich countries with highly unequal societies like the United States have poorer health than many poorer countries, the most obvious comparison being Cuba.
The WHO has set out the problem in stark terms. Inequality breeds unhealthy societies. This conclusion is supported by a huge body of evidence from across the globe.
Based on this compelling evidence, the commission makes three overarching recommendations to tackle the "corrosive effects of inequality of life chances."
Improve daily living conditions, including the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.
Tackle the inequitable distribution of power, money and resources - the structural drivers of those conditions - globally, nationally and locally.
Acknowledge that there is a problem and ensure that health inequity is measured, within countries and globally, as a vital platform for action.
This is a revolutionary manifesto. The second point alone demands a massive transformation of the social relations on our planet if we are to provide a reasonable life for all. I'm up for that. Starting with Glasgow.
View the report at www.who.int/social_determinants
Theft once more
THE cruellest of landlords responsible for the Highland clearances was the Countess of Sutherland. The name and title are reviled by my compatriots to this day. Her descendant the seventh duke has just decided to screw us for more.Coming in at 357 in the 2008 Sunday Times rich list with a fortune of £230 million in land and art, Eton-educated Francis Egerton is looking to liquidise two of his assets for a cool £100 million and we are expected to pay him off.
Diana and Actaeon, a painting by Titian from the 1550s, is being offered "to the nation" at the knockdown price of £50 million. This is supposedly a third of its estimated "market value." A second painting, Diana and Callisto, will follow at the same price if we stump up for the first.
The pictures have been part of the Bridgewater Loan, which is "valued" at £1 billion, at the National Gallery in Edinburgh, where director John Leighton is now creaming his jeans with excitement at the prospect of having the pictures permanently.
Apparently, the Scottish government is looking favourably at purchasing the two Titians for the nation. This is the government which refuses to step in and fund a decent living wage for cleaners, classroom assistants, coastguards and other public servants who have been on strike for better pay.
Why should we pay off the Duke of Sutherland with £100 million and tell the school janitors to make do with 2.5 per cent? I say that the nation should have the paintings by right, without compensation to the descendant of a family which stole the land from the people and has lived well off the ill-gotten gains ever since. Nationalise the Duke's paintings and his land and let him eat cake like the rest of us.
STUC in the community
COMMUNITIES will be a strong theme linking two important conferences at the STUC Centre at the end of the week. The STUC communities Conference and its trades union councils annual conference are taking place in tandem on Friday September 5 and Saturday September 6 respectively.The trades union councils are the grass roots voice of the STUC, making the link within local communities and their annual conference remains a key part of the STUC policy agenda.
The Communities Conference will focus on local regeneration and seek to separate the fact from the fiction. You can see the agenda at http://tinyurl.com/5sept08
Further details and registration for these conferences are available from the STUC on (0141) 337-8100 or by emailing lsanderson@stuc.org.uk
IT'S still a while away, but the Scottish Cuba Solidarity Campaign is having a comedy night on Wednesday October 22 at the Stand in Glasgow. Tickets are £7/£5 available from SCSC. The last time the Stand hosted a similar event it was a great night, so the campaign hopes for another success this time. Book your tickets now by emailing scottishcuba@yahoo.co.uk
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