Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

What are the priorities for improving public health in Oxfordshire and the Vale?

What are the national health improvement priorities?

The “Choosing Health” White Paper was published in 2004 which listed the following six priorities for action: 

1.      Reducing the number of people who smoke
2.      Reducing obesity
3.      Encouraging and supporting sensible drinking
4.      Improving sexual health
5.      Improving mental health and wellbeing
6.      Tackling health inequalities.

What are the health improvement challenges for Oxfordshire?

In April 2007 Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust published its annual report, which set out proposals for public health priorities in Oxfordshire. Four challenges were identified which need to be addressed in order to improve health and wellbeing in the county. These four challenges relate to the six national priorities listed above but with an Oxfordshire perspective: 

1. Providing services for an ageing population - England is undergoing a profound demographic change and Oxfordshire is no exception. Both the number and proportion of older people is increasing. The working population will be increasingly stretched to fund public services for the retired
2. Breaking the cycle of deprivation of children and families - Most children and young people in Oxfordshire are healthier than in many other parts of the country. However, there remain areas of stubborn inequalities across the county with poorer prospects and poorer health being handed down from one generation to the next
3. Combating obesity - Being obese reduces life expectancy by an average of nine years. Ill health caused by obesity (e.g. diabetes, heart disease) costs the NHS over £1 billion pre year and costs society as a whole up to £3.5 billion per year
4. Fighting infectious diseases such as MRSA, tuberculosis, HIV and pandemic influenza -  Over the next decade we will need to improve the way we fight infectious diseases due to change in trends (e.g. new diseases, rapid travel across continents spreads disease, the bugs that survive and breed are the ones that can beat the antibiotics).

How do these four challenges relate to the Vale?

• An ageing population – According to the Office of National statistics between 2004 and 2029 we will see a 145.5 per cent increase in people aged 85+years in the Vale
• Breaking the cycle of deprivation – Oxfordshire has 19 small geographical areas in the top most 20 per cent deprived in England in terms of child poverty and one of these areas is in the Vale. In the Vale around 1,900 children live in low income households
• Obesity – It is estimated that 1 in 5 adults in the Vale are obese
• Infectious disease – In 2005 there were six new cases of tuberculosis reported in the Vale.

The Council has produced a Health Improvement Plan, which reflects the four health improvement challenges identified for Oxfordshire, and to set out the contribution made by Council services and projects towards improving the health of people living and working in the Vale. This plan can be downloaded from the right of the page.

For more information about health in the District please download the Vale of White Horse health profile from the right of the page.