The report, Health Inequalities, Lives Cut Short, demonstrates the extent to which stark economic and social inequalities are leading to people living in less affluent areas dying early from cancer, heart problems and other diseases.
As well as leading to premature deaths, health inequalities mean people from less advantaged, lower income households are more likely to be living with long-term health conditions.
The gap in healthy life expectancy between the most and least affluent parts of our region is stark. Someone from one of the wealthiest parts of Sheffield could have a healthy life expectancy of around 20 years more than someone from some of our most deprived neighbourhoods.
That is shocking and something we have a moral imperative to change.
A large proportion of the factors driving this gap can be avoided, things like quality of education, jobs, housing and built environment. Research and innovation are key enablers that can help us to change health outcomes for people living in our communities.
That’s why we set out our vision for a Health Innovation Campus based at the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park.
Our Health Innovation Campus vision spans the entire university, working in partnership with the public and private sector across our region and beyond to change how we think about lifelong challenges from early years to education, skills development, world-class research, business, and employment growth.
The University already boasts two world-leading research centres at the heart of the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park- the only legacy park outside a host city.
Our National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering (NCEFE) and our Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC) are both based there and are contributing to improving health and wellbeing at a local, regional and national level.
Our Advanced Wellbeing Accelerator is hosted at the AWRC and has supported more than 40 businesses to accelerate product development, secure investment and help bring new health and wellbeing innovations to market.
The Accelerator has just welcomed its third cohort of businesses who will all receive bespoke research and development support from academic experts as well as access to a network of over 100 experienced mentors.
Since opening in 2020, the AWRC has focused on improving health and wellbeing through innovations that help people move. It is a simple but powerful ethos.
Research carried out by experts at the AWRC, particularly with disadvantaged communities, confirms what actually matters most to people is not how long they live (within reason) but the quality of life lived.
Last month, health researchers based at the AWRC were awarded more than £3m in government funding for two separate research projects looking at the impacts of childhood obesity.
Supported by experts and partner organisations from across our region, they will lead new research that will help children and young people living with obesity to lead healthier, happier lives. These projects could have a huge impact on young people living with obesity in our region.
But we must also address the wider determinants of health inequalities if we are to truly level up our communities.
Poor health caused by lack of access to basic needs has put more pressure on the National Health Service, straining its resources and finances. New ideas and inventions are more essential than ever to ensure that we can all enjoy healthy lives and reduce the burden on our NHS.
Sheffield Hallam, and universities across the country, have made important contributions to address these challenges, engaging with our communities and applying cutting-edge research expertise across design, exercise, technology, food engineering and artificial intelligence, with rapidly growing momentum.
It is vital we work collaboratively to do this. Last year, alongside colleagues at the University of Sheffield and partners from the NHS and private sector, we launched the South Yorkshire Digital Health Hub to help address inequalities in patient care.
The £4 million Hub will improve peoples’ health and quality of life by using cutting-edge data analytics, AI and mobile health monitoring to diagnose diseases earlier and make treatment more targeted and effective.
We are at the forefront of research and innovation to address health inequalities in South Yorkshire and beyond and we are supported by a Mayor who has huge ambitions for the health of our region.
With the right support from government and industry the health of our region can be more equal and equitable for all.
Originally published in the Yorkshire Post on Tuesday 8 April.
