Building a Fairer Gwent

A Message from Dr Sarah Aitken, Former Director of Public Health & Strategic Partnerships, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board:

“I’m very pleased to publish my new report. ‘Building a Fairer Gwent’. When I published my previous report in 2019 Building a Healthier Gwent, I set out an ambition that by 2030 it would be easier for people in all our communities to live their lives in good health. Unfortunately, the events of the last three years have made it harder, not easier. A combination of the pandemic, followed by the cost-of-living crisis, means that many of the things that people need to help them live their lives in good health have got harder.

But this report is about what can be done. It is about what is possible if we all work together. The report adopts the principles first articulated by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, starting with the people at the point that they are born and how we can support them throughout their lives in order to help them to live long, healthy lives. Doing the things in this report and working together, we can build a fairer Gwent”.

The Challenge

Three years after the publication of ‘Building a Healthier Gwent’, the data tells us that it is getting harder not easier for people in communities across Gwent to live healthy, fulfilled lives. Inequities have been amplified by the direct and indirect harms of COVID-19 and the cost of living crisis. To support change Gwent has now become a Marmot Region.

The Report

Why is Gwent a Marmot Region?

For further information on the Gwent Marmot region programme please visit: Gwent Marmot Region - Gwent Public Services Board Gwent Public Services Board (gwentpsb.org)

Who is this report for?

This report is for partners across Gwent to show the art of the possible of what organisations can do together to drive the change needed to reduce inequalities in our communities across Gwent.

Reflections

I’m very pleased to publish my final annual report: Building a Fairer Gwent, why Gwent is a Marmot region. This report builds on my previous reports highlighting the inequalities in health across our area and the causes of those inequalities. Which is why Gwent Public Service Board have made the decision for Gwent to become a region so that we can build a fairer Gwent, by working together.

This will be my last report and it has been an absolute privilege to be the latest in a long tradition of Directors of Public Health building on the tradition started 175 years ago with the first medical officer of health in Liverpool. I wish every success to Gwent Public Service Board and to those who are going to strive together to ‘Build a Fairer Gwent.’

- A Message from Dr Sarah Aitken, Former Director of Public Health & Strategic Partnerships, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board