Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the commitment to prepare a white paper on health disparities in the white paper entitled Levelling Up the United Kingdom, published on 2 February 2022, whether he is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle health disparities through the development of the Major Conditions Strategy.

The Major Conditions Strategy’s focus is on tackling conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England, including cancers; cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill health; and musculoskeletal conditions. Health disparities exist across a wide variety of conditions, from cancer to mental health, and contribute to stark and unacceptable variation in the number of years people live in good health.

The Major Conditions Strategy will apply a geographical lens to each condition to address regional disparities in health outcomes, supporting the levelling up mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030.