Coventry debate to examine how inequalities and justice affect healthcare

The impact that inequality and working conditions have on health in Britain and across the Commonwealth will be debated by leading figures in Coventry.

Kevin Fenton, senior advisor of health and wellbeing for Public Health England, will speak at Coventry University to discuss matters of justice in healthcare, education and health equality in the UK.

He will be joined by former MP, David Locke QC, and Josephine Ojiambo, deputy secretary general of the Commonwealth Secretariat, to consider whether inequality in living and working conditions across Commonwealth member states directly translate into health, and whether these are unjust. 

Expert speakers across law and education will also seek to counter the effects of an inadequate education by digging into the root causes of health disparities – including racism, physiological, socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental factors, as well as quality of care, governance and legislation.

Terry Braithwaite, event coordinator from Coventry University Law School, said: “This is an area which is hugely topical when we think of the Grenfell fire and case of baby Charlie Gard dominating the news. These are such major issues concerning law and policy making at all levels.

“We want to look at healthcare and education in a wider Commonwealth context. People from certain sections of society are not getting the support they need in healthcare and it’s not always because they can’t afford it, it’s that they often don’t have that support system.

An important example more widely is people eating junk food because they cannot afford other things. Legislation and education play a huge role in these areas and law is at the centre of it all.  It is of importance to everyone.”

The public lecture - Healthcare and Education in a Commonwealth context: What’s Law got to do with it? - will be held on 8 July at Coventry University. 

The free event marks a new collaboration between Coventry University’s Law School and the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences; Warwick Medical School’s Division for Mental Health & Wellbeing; and the Commonwealth Secretariat Division for Political Affairs, Human Rights and Rule of Law.