We are extremely worried to hear that the government is turning its back on the commitment to tackle unacceptable health inequalities (Thérèse Coffey scraps promised paper on health inequality, 29 September). This will undermine the commitment to tackling disparities in the women’s health strategy for England. It could halt the momentum from the newly created maternity disparities taskforce, set up to end the stark disparities in maternal outcomes that continue to persist.
Recent research has attributed 12% of stillbirths in England to ethnic inequality and 24% of stillbirths to socioeconomic inequality. Turning away from addressing health disparities will challenge the ambition to halve rates of stillbirths and neonatal and maternal deaths by 2025. The timing could not be worse; we are barely post-pandemic and are now faced with a cost of living crisis. We urge the government to maintain the commitment to publishing the white paper by the end of this year.
Dr Eddie Morris
President, Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
