The Woman of the North report exposes growing regional inequalities in women’s quality of life, health and work over the last decade and the impacts of these inequalities on women, their families and communities.
Rachel was honoured to contribute to this important report which is the result of a major collaborative effort across the Northern Health Science Alliance’s members of universities and hospitals, coordinated by Health Equity North. It has involved academics from many of the Northern NIHR Applied Research Collaborations alongside Rachel representing the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre.
One of the most striking findings in the chapter Rachel Cooper co-led on Women’s Health alongside Dr Sophie Wickham, Dr Anna Wilding, Dr Luke Munford, Dr Sophie Patterson and Jane McDermott was the stark inequalities in women’s healthy life expectancy; women in the North East of England, who the research within our BRC aims to support, can only expect to live to an average age of 59 years in good health which compares with an average age of 65 years in the South East.
As well as outlining the scale of the challenges faced by women in the north, the report provides key recommendations for regional and central Governments and aims to act as a call for action to reduce regional inequities.
The NIHR Newcastle BRC has an important ongoing role to play in addressing the findings of this report and is committed, through its partnerships, to addressing regional inequalities in health as part of its vision to transform lives through world-leading research in ageing and multiple long-term conditions.
The Woman of the North report was launched in Parliament in September and discussed at a roundtable and panel event at the recent Labour Party Conference.
The Woman of the North report
Health Equity North