Letter: The health gap

Sir: The new evidence of widening inequalities in health ("Preventable deaths rise as health gap widens", 2 December) means that radical steps are needed to prevent the UK following the USA, where a baby boy born in the most deprived areas has a lower life expectancy than a baby boy born in Bangladesh on the same day.

Since to redistribute health we must first redistribute wealth, the first step is to tackle the increasing differentials between the pay of chief executives and their workforces. This is currently 17 to 1 in the UK, compared with only 7 to 1 in Sweden, where the health divide is proportionately smaller. Does the Government have the bottle?

DONALD REID

Acting Joint Chief Executive

UK Public Health Association

London SW1