Back to Contents
The publication of the House of Lords ’ Public Services Committee ’ s
positioning paper on the levelling up agenda was a crucial moment for us and is the result of our collaborative efforts to raise awareness of how the health of our population plays an integral part in creating a productive and prosperous society .
Life expectancy in the Yorkshire and Humber region is now one year 10 months lower than the national average in England and COVID-19 has exacerbated these inequalities . People from black , Asian and minority ethnic communities , older people , men , people living in the country ’ s most deprived areas , those who are obese , and those living with long-term conditions have been most affected by the pandemic and have the highest associated mortality . We know that a higher COVID-19 risk was evident in disadvantaged communities whilst mental and physical ill health were also disproportionately concentrated in poorer communities during the pandemic .
Pre-COVID , we had already recognised these health inequalities and is the reason why we launched
YHealth for Growth . It is vital that we ‘ level up ’ our region and this agenda will remain one of our top priorities for the foreseeable future as we continue to engage with our local , regional and national stakeholders to look at how we can support this ambition .
Achieving inclusive growth
Creating a more inclusive and sustainable economy and society is at the heart of our YHealth for Growth report ,
‘ Levelling Up Yorkshire and Humber : health as the new wealth post-COVID ’ which we launched in July 2020 . In this report , we made recommendations on actions for local and national leadership to support a renewed focus on reducing health inequalities using the levers of economic growth
Regionally , research shows that health inequalities undermine our area ’ s economic potential and that the North clearly lags
© Welcome to Yorkshire
Impact Report 2020-21 55