Can Scotland achieve its aim of narrowing health inequalities in a post-pandemic world?

Abstract

The reduction of health inequalities has been a stated aim of many Western governments. This is certainly true of the devolved government in Scotland, both historically1-4 and also currently: the need to narrow inequalities in health and its determinants has been emphasised by the present administration in all its recent parliamentary legislative programmes5-8. Indeed, the narrowing of economic inequality – a fundamental cause of health inequality9-12 – is one of the two ‘key pillars’ of the Scottish Government’s overall economic strategy13. However, as we seek to emerge from the current COVID-19 emergency, how will these laudable aims stand up in a post-pandemic world? To answer that we need to ask two further, important, questions. First, where were we with regards to inequalities policy in Scotland before the pandemic? And second, what are the likely implications of the pandemic for inequalities, and inequalities policymaking, in the country?