ACTIONS set out at the height of the Covid pandemic to tackle health inequalities across the region have already helped thousands of people improve their fitness and wellbeing.
A meeting of the Health of the Region Roundtable, chaired by Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street, has heard how slow but steady progress is being made on delivering a wide-ranging and long-term action plan aimed at closing the region’s health gap.
The Health of the Region: Addressing health and wellbeing inequalities and the impacts of COVID-19 in the West Midlands report was published in 2020 and found there were entrenched health inequalities in the region that had been both exposed and exacerbated by the pandemic.
Two years on and significant work has been done by the organisations involved, with 46 of the 65 commitments they set out in the Health of the Region report either being delivered or starting to be embedded into relevant policies.
Among the commitments being delivered on the ground is a long-lasting physical activity and wellbeing legacy for the region.
The scheme has been developed by the WMCA and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) delivery partners to encourage people to get active in targeted areas of poor health.
This has seen more than 16,000 pieces of Games sports equipment donated to community organisations and physical and mental health activity groups set up.
Mr Street, who is also the chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), said: “It’s encouraging to see so much positive work has been done right across the region over the past two years.
“I’m delighted to see the substantial efforts our partner organisations have made – in some respects even going beyond what they had committed to in the Health of the Region Report.
“Despite the significant challenges faced by the NHS and wider health sector post-Covid, we’ve made real progress.
“But there is more work to be done collectively as we continue to address the disparities in health and wellbeing that local people sadly experience right across our region.
“I remain hopeful that – by working together – we can do exactly that.”
