Vital Signs : The Deadly Costs of Health Inequality

This is a book about health. It is an analysis of what health is and what it isn’t. It offers an understanding of the nature of health inequality and why it exists. Centrally, Vital Signs contends that health is a complex phenomenon rooted in the conditions in which we live and in history. In order, therefore, to understand and address the unequal distribution of good health and long lives which characterises the twenty-first century, we need to know about and get to grips with the significance of the periods in history when health has improved. In Vital Signs I ask: what is at the core of health inequality and what does history tell us we can do about it? Nature is no longer the leading cause of death; society is. This makes health care one of the most important political issues today. This book looks at the reasons behind the declining condition of our bodies, as governments across the world choose to neglect the health of the majority of their citizens. Using hard data taken from service users, Lee Humber constructs a sharp analysis that gets to the heart of inequality in health care today, showing that 'wealthy means healthy'. Life expectancy for many in the UK and US is worse than it was 100 years ago, and more and more communities across the world can expect shorter and less healthy lives than their parents. Humber also suggests radical strategies for tackling this degenerative situation, providing a compelling vision for how we can shape our health and that of future generations.-- Provided by publisher Nature is no longer the leading cause of death; society is. This makes health care one of the most important political issues today. This book looks at the reasons behind the declining condition of our bodies, as governments across the world choose to neglect the health of the majority of their citizens.

Using hard data taken from service users, Lee Humber constructs a sharp analysis that gets to the heart of inequality in health care today, showing that 'wealthy means healthy'. Life expectancy for many in the UK and US is worse than it was 100 years ago, and more and more communities across the world can expect shorter and less healthy lives than their parents.

Humber also suggests radical strategies for tackling this degenerative situation, providing a compelling vision for how we can shape our health and that of future generations. 1 Introduction 2 Healthcare in the Age of Neoliberalism 3 Mergers, Monopolies and the ‘Rising Billions’ 4 The Social Determinants of Health 5 The ‘Inequality Thesis’ 6 Ageing Populations? 7 Health, Power and Paradigms 8 Legislating for Better Health? 9 Who’s WHO? 10 The National Health Service: A Revolution Half Made? 11 Conclusion