The Collaboration for Health Equity in Scotland plans to tackle health inequalities and bring about significant change to reduce health inequalities in three of Scotland’s local authority areas including South Lanarkshire Council.
Over the next two years, this partnership will help South Lanarkshire Council and Community Planning Partners, including NHS Lanarkshire, to strengthen their local plans to reduce health inequalities and improve wellbeing in their communities.
The ultimate goal is to enable people to live longer, healthier lives by addressing the root causes of health inequalities and preventing illness before it starts. By creating conditions where communities can thrive, the initiative aims to create lasting positive change.
A key element of the collaboration is its role in bridging the gap between national policies and local implementation. The insights and learning from the collaboration will be shared across Scotland through a dedicated learning system, ensuring that communities nationwide can benefit from the knowledge gained.
To mark the beginning of the partnerships, South Lanarkshire Council hosted a launch event this week which serves as a platform to engage with the community, share the vision of the collaboration, and kick-start this ambitious project to build a healthier, more equitable Scotland.
Professor S Josephine Pravinkumar, NHS Lanarkshire’s Director of Public Health and Health Policy, said: “We see this collaboration as a huge opportunity and another strong lever, along with the national Population Health Framework that is due to be published in the spring, to focus on key priorities for us.
“We already have a strong focus on things that matter most to the health of our population from a prevention and inequalities perspective and this is another building block for us.
“Investing in children’s health is extremely important to improve the health of our population both for current and future generations. This initiative which focuses on actions against child poverty is very welcome and will strengthen our plans and efforts to work towards reaching our targets. It should also help us to amplify and accelerate our efforts to improve population health not just in South Lanarkshire but across Lanarkshire as a whole.
“I am really excited about the opportunities to use data more effectively and strengthen our collaborative efforts across Lanarkshire to use health and wider intelligence to influence strategic decision making and track our outcomes in a tangible way.”
Professor Soumen Sengupta, Chief Officer of South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership, added: “We are delighted to be involved in this partnership as it reinforces our long-term commitment and ambitions to improve the lives of local people and future generations across Lanarkshire.
“The opportunities that this collaboration will bring to South Lanarkshire will help shape our collective efforts to further address the fundamental determinants of health and our work together to tackle health inequalities for and with our communities.”
