Case study: Health inequalities in health protection report, UKHSA
Case study details
| Metadata item | Details |
|---|---|
| Owner: | Analysis Function Central Team |
| Who this is for: | All government analysts |
| Contact: | Meg Scott (Megan.Scott@ukhsa.gov.uk) and Luke Prince (Luke.Prince@ukhsa.gov.uk) |
Team / Department
- UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) Public Health Analysis Analysis and Intelligence Assessment
- UKHSA Health Equity and Inclusion Health
- UKHSA Economics
- UKHSA Strategy and Policy
Situation / Action
“Health inequalities in health protection have a high human cost across people and place. They have a wider societal impact, including on health services and economic productivity. The causes of and solutions to addressing health inequalities are often systemic, structural and complex. This report sets out the extent of these health inequalities. It aims to support health systems in better understanding who and where is most affected. It is a step towards enabling sustainable change, so that all our communities can live longer and in better health, safe from health hazards” – Health inequalities in health protection report 2025.
We led on the production of the Health inequalities in health protection report, which examined, “The state of health inequalities in the UK, and how UKHSA aims to make health protection fair”.
This was a collaboration with UKHSA’s Health Equity and Inclusion Health and UKHSA Strategy and Policy teams.
Outcome / Impact
We have developed a consistent and comparable set of descriptive metrics for inequalities in infectious disease and infection.
This is a landmark analysis for UKHSA and provides a foundation for future health inequalities analysis. This supports the national UKHSA Health Equity for Health Security strategy, as well as supporting the development of strategy for regional and local health protection teams.
In collaboration with the UKHSA Economics team, we developed estimates for the economic cost of inequalities in infectious disease and infection. We have also summarised available evidence for inequalities in the burden of environmental hazards, as well as the burden of infectious disease and infection for inclusion health groups. You can read more about our work on Gov.UK – UKHSA publishes new analysis of health inequalities in England
How this work supports the Analysis Function strategy
UKHSA’s work demonstrated behaviours which support the Analysis Function strategy by providing foundational metrics for health equity strategy, and collaborating across UKHSA teams and systems.
Find out more: a strategy for analysis in government 2025 to 2028