Published: 8 July 2022

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Medical Research is conducting an inquiry into ‘Health Disparities: why medical research is a crucial tool for health equity.’  

The pandemic has exposed ever increasing health disparities across the UK. We’re seeing more and more people’s health outcomes unduly determined by their ethnicity, age, and socio-economic background. Research has shown that those living in the most deprived areas of England and Wales are twice as likely to die after contracting COVID-19, whilst their overall life expectancy is over seven years lower than those in the least deprived areas.

Medical research has already done much to help alleviate health inequity and it is crucial that Government’s upcoming plans to reduce health disparities - including the Health Disparities White paper - acknowledge and support the vital role it has to play.  

Chris Green MP, chair of the APPG on Medical Research explains that “The current situation of health disparities in the UK is stark and calls for urgent action. We need to harness the potential of medical research to genuinely make a difference in this field. This inquiry will highlight some of the fantastic research already taking place as well as outlining how policy makers and research funders can do more to support this in the future.” 

The APPG is calling for examples of research that has helped address health disparities as well as insights on what is needed to enable such research to take place and deliver real-world benefits.

Please submit your evidence via our SurveyMonkey by 6pm Friday 19 August 2022. If this format is not accessible for you, you can send your submission to the APPG inquiry lead, Ben.

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