The Department of Health is to invest £1 million over the next three years in a research centre dedicated to addressing health inequalities.
The Institute of Health Equity, to be based at University College London, will investigate the role of social determinants in health inequality.
It will be directed by Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology and public health at UCL. Marmot led a 2008-2010 review on health inequalities for the Labour government which produced a report, “Fair Society, Healthy Lives: A Strategic Review of Health Inequalities in England Post-2010”.
The institute will be home to the European Review of Social Determinants and the Health Divide, a major World Health Organization project that is due to report in September 2012.
A DH statement added that the independent institute would “provide vital guidance and support to local organisations during the transition to Public Health England and the new NHS”.