Tackling health inequalities in Waltham Forest

In 2022, the Institute of Health Equity was commissioned to work with the local authority and local partners. Its aim was to develop detailed research to understand the health inequalities experienced across Waltham Forest and their impacts.

Several socioeconomic factors determine people's health, such as:

• occupation
• education
• income
• wealth
• and where they live.

These account for avoidable and systematic health disparities. The report ‘A Fairer and Healthier Waltham Forest’ has vital insights into the health inequalities experienced by our communities. It includes recommendations to reduce these inequalities and improve health outcomes for all. 

2024 Response

In 2024, the Council officially published its response to the Marmot recommendations, 'Building a Fairer and Healthier Waltham Forest'. Through Professor Sir Marmot’s ‘Eight Principles’ and through the Council’s accelerator areas (‘Good Work, Better Health’, ‘Healthier Homes’, and ‘Greener and Healthier Places’), our response sets out how we will inspire ambitious, far-reaching work programmes, with the health and wellbeing of our residents at the fore.

2025 Update

As part of our response to the findings of the 2022 Fairer and Healthier Waltham Forest report, the Council has issued a brief update highlighting our progress to date. It includes information around how, in collaboration with partners in the voluntary sector and NHS, we have embedded the Marmot principles in some of our key council strategies. It also includes case studies of how we have helped tackle health inequalities and improved residents lives in our response to the Marmot recommendations, and through the implementation of Mission Waltham Forest.   

For more information on health inequalities in Waltham Forest, please follow the links below to read the original report, the Council's response, and the update one year on.