Call to action for government to tackle poor life expectancy figures in Birmingham
The #MakeHealthEqual campaign has been set up in the city because more than one in four children in the West Midlands is living in poverty.
Last updated 12th Jul 2024
A campaigning coalition of around 27 organisations is calling on the new Labour government to tackle what they say is Birmingham’s ‘scandalous’ 14-year gap in life expectancy.
The Health Equals coalition has launched a new campaign to urge ministers to fix the health inequalities that are cutting thousands of lives short across the city every year.
In Birmingham, life expectancy is 14 years lower than in other parts of the UK, and evidence shows that health inequalities are getting worse. Currently, factors like income, housing and air quality can cut your life short because of where you’re born in the UK.
The coalition, which includes Mind, the British Red Cross, Citizens Advice Bureau, Shelter, Crisis, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and more, has launched the #MakeHealthEqual campaign because more than one in four children in the West Midlands is living in poverty, whilst over a third (35%) of people in the West Midlands say they do not have enough money to live well and air pollution in the West Midlands is too high, breaching the World Health Organisation’s healthy levels.
To shine a spotlight on the issue of health inequalities and put it at the forefront of Labour’s mind, Health Equals photographed 50 babies to illustrate the shocking range of life expectancies across different towns and cities in the UK.
One of these babies, from Birmingham, is currently featuring on a giant billboard in the Bullring to raise awareness of the stark health inequalities that need to be addressed.
Shale Ahmed, Project Leader at community-led mission, Aspire and Succeed, in Lozells, Birmingham talks about his experiences of trying to address the housing crisis in his area through his work.
“There was one family who had been living in a series of hotels for four years, cramped conditions that didn’t allow them to cook and kept them from sleeping properly, which took its toll on their mental health particularly.
"Despite this, they were classified as Band C by the council, which means it often takes years to find social housing.
"The lack of access to green spaces and quality clean air. These are things making it worse and truth be said, we're being left behind. If we don't do something about this right now, that 14 year gap will become 16, 18, 22 who knows."
Birmingham City Council said damp in council housing must be reported immediately so that it can action it.