Wales to become world’s first ‘Marmot Nation’ to tackle health inequalities

This involves adopting public health expert Sir Michael Marmot’s eight principles, which aim to eliminate unfair and avoidable differences in health which can be caused by where people live, what kind of job they do and how they are treated in society.

The move follows the success in Torfaen, which was an early adopter of the Marmot principles when the wider Gwent area became a Marmot region.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Jeremy Miles has agreed the Welsh Government will work with the Institute of Health Equity (IHE), which is led by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, and put health equity at the heart of policy and decision-making across the Welsh Government.

In practice this will mean working with a number of communities across Wales to reduce health inequalities using the Marmot principles, in the same way as Torfaen has done.

This commitment builds on Wales’ Well-being of Future Generations Act, which places a legal duty on public bodies to improve social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being and consider the long-term impact of their decisions. The Act recently celebrated its 10^th anniversary.

The work will focus on adopting the eight Marmot Principles to:

1. Give every child the best start in life.
2. Enable all children, young people, and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives.
3. Create fair employment and good work for all.
4. Ensure a healthy standard of living for all.
5. Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities.
6. Strengthen the role and impact of ill health prevention.
7. Tackle racism, discrimination, and their outcomes.
8. Pursue environmental sustainability and health equity together.

The Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing Sarah Murphy, will highlight Wales’ commitment to become a Marmot Nation at the Canada-UK Council’s Fairer Society, Healthier Lives report launch in Cardiff today (Monday 16 June).

She said: “Becoming a Marmot Nation is about acknowledging that health inequalities are mostly shaped by the social determinants of health – the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.

“In Torfaen, we can see positive change at community level due to organisations working together innovatively. By adopting these eight Marmot principles nationally, we will be taking action across government to support better health and wellbeing for all.”

Professor Sir Michael Marmot said:

“A society that meets the needs of its members will have good health and relatively small inequalities in health.

“Healthcare is, of course, important for health. More important are social circumstances, as summarised in the eight Marmot Principles. The policy implications are clear. Health policy is for the whole of government, not just for the health department or the NHS.”

Professor Nicolas Maclean, UK Co-Chair, of the Canada-UK Council said:

“The Canada-UK Council warmly welcomes this important new initiative by the Welsh Government, which follows our annual colloquium hosted last December in Cardiff by leaders such as Jeremy Miles and Mark Drakeford.

“The theme of our colloquium, chaired by Sir Michael Marmot, was ‘overcoming unequal health outcomes in the UK and Canada.’ Today’s announcement will set an example around the world.”