On Wednesday 29 September 2021 BMJ recognised the extraordinary and innovative work of healthcare professionals across the country as the winners of the 2021 BMJ Awards were announced during a virtual ceremony
Professor Marmot, Director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity, received the Outstanding Contribution to Health award for working to reduce health inequalities. His understanding of health inequalities, and what to do about them was set out in his book, The Health Gap.
He is the author of several landmark reports on the subject. Fair Society Healthy Lives: the Marmot Review, commissioned by the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown, outlined evidence-based strategies for reducing health inequalities in England, while Health Equity in England: Marmot Review 10 Years On, published in February 2020, found that health inequalities had widened over 10 years, with declining life expectancy for the poorest 10% of women.
The Build Back Fairer: The Covid 19 Marmot Review, also published last year, found that pre-existing inequalities led to a higher death toll in England, while a later report for Greater Manchester showed that local mortality rates from Covid-19 were 25% higher than in the country as a whole. Those reports set out the practical steps needed to #buildbackfairer after the pandemic or, in the current political jargon, to 'level up'.
Professor Marmot told the BMJ that the work he has done during the pandemic “builds on everything I’ve done before” and described the BMJ award as an “unexpected pleasure” for recognising this.
