We welcome government's recognition of need to tackle inequalities in mental health

9 June 2008

The Government has rightly recognised that it cannot reduce inequalities in health without promoting mental wellbeing and tackling exclusion among people with mental health problems, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health head of policy Linda Seymour said today.

Welcoming the Government report Health Inequalities - Progress and Next Steps, Linda Seymour said: "We are delighted that the Government has pledged to enhance the role of schools in promoting mental wellbeing. We welcome too the recognition that tackling excess eating, drug use and alcohol consumption will not work without dealing with mental distress.

"We are pleased that the Government will pilot Dame Carol Black's proposed Fit for Work service in deprived areas and will continue to invest in the anti-discrimination programme, Shift.

"As the World Health Organisation has emphasised, 'there is no health without mental health'. We will never succeed in tackling the stark inequalities in life expectancy and quality of life in our society unless we put mental wellbeing at the centre of all of our efforts to improve the health of the poorest and most excluded."