Acheson Report
Encyclopedia
The Acheson Report, fully titled the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health Report, was a report published in 1998 by a United Kingdom
inquiry headed by Donald Acheson
.
Like earlier reports on health disparities
in the United Kingdom including the Black Report
and the Whitehall Study
, the Acheson report demonstrates the existence of health disparities and their relationship to social class. Among the report’s findings are that despite an overall downward trend in mortality from 1970–1990, the upper social classes experienced a more rapid mortality decline. The report contains 39 policy suggestions in areas ranging from taxation to agriculture, for ameliorating health disparities. It had some influence on the 1998 government green paper Our Healthier Nation: A Contract for Health which had a stated aim of reducing health inequalities; and the 1999 white paper Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
inquiry headed by Donald Acheson
Donald Acheson
Sir Donald Acheson KBE was a British physician and epidemiologist who served as Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom from 1983–91...
.
Like earlier reports on health disparities
Health disparities
Health equity refers to the study of differences in the quality of health and health care across different populations....
in the United Kingdom including the Black Report
Black Report
The Black report was a 1980 document published by the Department of Health and Social Security in the United Kingdom, which was the report of the expert committee into health inequality chaired by Sir Douglas Black...
and the Whitehall Study
Whitehall Study
The original Whitehall Study investigated social determinants of health, specifically the cardiorespiratory disease prevalence and mortality rates among British male civil servants between the ages of 20 and 64. The initial prospective cohort study, the Whitehall I Study, examined over 18,000...
, the Acheson report demonstrates the existence of health disparities and their relationship to social class. Among the report’s findings are that despite an overall downward trend in mortality from 1970–1990, the upper social classes experienced a more rapid mortality decline. The report contains 39 policy suggestions in areas ranging from taxation to agriculture, for ameliorating health disparities. It had some influence on the 1998 government green paper Our Healthier Nation: A Contract for Health which had a stated aim of reducing health inequalities; and the 1999 white paper Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation.
External links
- Official Documents Archive - Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health Report