About Politics of Health Group

Our health is critically influenced by the political and social situations in which we live and the exercise of power. Health inequalities are growing within and between communities, regions, countries and continents. Access to high quality health and social care is also distributed unfairly. At a time that has seen steady progress in the development of knowledge about how to promote health and the further development of technologies to tackle many diseases, we have also seen a growth in avoidable ill health and health inequality.

Inextricably linked to the issues of health promotion and health inequalities is the process of wealth creation and distribution. Despite unprecedented levels of wealth, in many regions of the world poverty, hunger and ill health are getting worse. In many parts of the world and within countries and regions, income and wealth inequality is growing.

PoHG believes that this situation is a direct consequence of political decision making and the pursuit of poorly regulated trade. PoHG believes that the pursuit of profit at the expense of people's health is unacceptable and must be stopped.

PoHG works to improve health for all and reduce health inequalities and the social inequalities that cause them by campaigning for policies beneficial to health and raising awareness of negative impacts of policies on health, both nationally and internationally.

PoHG will focus political attention on health in the broadest sense of the term. Health is about the whole of humanity and people's lives, environments, how we work, where we live, how we travel, what we eat and how we relate to others.

Whilst PoHG will maintain a predominantly UK focus, its work will not ignore the impact of UK politics on the health of other peoples, nor the impact of broader global politics and trade on the health of people living in the UK. PoHG will build positive and mutually enhancing relationships with both UK and international organisations that share the same philosophy and concerns.