Ensure a decent standard of living for all

The PHA is committed to partnership working to address health inequalities and improve the health and social wellbeing of the population in Northern Ireland. This includes working in collaboration with the community, voluntary, public, private and academic sectors to address factors that contribute to poverty and ill health, and to ensure a decent standard of living for all.

Both poverty and economic inequality are bad for health, with poverty an important risk factor for illness and premature death. It affects health directly and indirectly in many ways, including:

  • financial strain;
  • poor housing;
  • poorer living environments;
  • poorer diet;
  • limited access to employment, other resources, services and opportunities.

Poor health can also cause poverty. It is well established that the poorest people live the shortest lives with the worst health. The more one moves up the ladder, the longer one’s life and the better one’s health experience. Poverty is a relative and changing concept in many ways and is subject to fluctuations given macroeconomic conditions.

This section provides information on key programmes of work undertaken by the PHA and partners to address the causal factors of poverty in Northern Ireland.