Wales will become a Marmot nation as part of the Welsh Government’s ongoing work to tackle health inequalities.

This involves adopting public health expert Sir Michael Marmot’s eight principles, which aim to eliminate unfair and avoidable differences in health which can be caused by where people live, what kind of job they do and how they are treated in society.

The move follows the success in Torfaen, which was an early adopter of the Marmot principles when the wider Gwent area became a Marmot region.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Jeremy Miles has agreed the Welsh Government will work with the Institute of Health Equity (IHE), which is led by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, and put health equity at the heart of policy and decision-making across the Welsh Government.

In practice this will mean working with a number of communities across Wales to reduce health inequalities using the Marmot principles, in the same way as Torfaen has done.

This commitment builds on Wales’ Well-being of Future Generations Act, which places a legal duty on public bodies to improve social, economic, environmental, and cultural well-being and consider the long-term impact of their decisions. The act recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

The work will focus on adopting the eight Marmot principles to:

1. Give every child the best start in life.
2. Enable all children, young people, and adults to maximise their capabilities and have control over their lives.
3. Create fair employment and good work for all.
4. Ensure a healthy standard of living for all.
5. Create and develop healthy and sustainable places and communities.
6. Strengthen the role and impact of ill health prevention.
7. Tackle racism, discrimination, and their outcomes.
8. Pursue environmental sustainability and health equity together.

Further information