Britain plans to set up several “HAPI zones” to fix its sickness crisis in which 900,000 workers have been lost to the economy, putting the National Health Service under severe threat, a report has found.
It is hoped the Health and Prosperity Improvement (HAPI) zones will boost the economy as with more than 2.8 million people off sick on the average working day the country was losing out on greater productivity and tax revenue, said the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) report.
Its lead author has told The National that more worryingly Britain's “atrocious” ill-health was prevalent not only among the over-60s but affected all age groups including large numbers of children suffering from obesity.
In a report endorsed by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, the IPPR said there was now an opportunity of “kick-starting a once-in-a-generation rethink of national health policy” to revitalise well-being and the economy.
It comes as part of the final report of the IPPR’s Commission on Health and Prosperity, chaired by Lord Darzi – who recently led a hard-hitting review into the state of the NHS for the government – alongside England’s former chief medical officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies.
Lord Darzi's wide-ranging review, published last week, concluded the NHS was “in serious trouble” and prompted Labour to pledge widespread reform of the health service.
HAPI towns
That reform includes the creation of HAPI areas modelled on urban “clean-air zones”, with a national investment plan to rebuild localised health infrastructure, including swimming pools and parks in the poorest towns.
Britain has yet to fully recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, which has pushed the daily number of those off work sick to 2.8 million, but unless drastic steps are taken this could reach 4.3 million in five years, the report said.
“First and foremost, the UK is doing fairly atrociously when it comes to health compared to other countries,” said Chris Thomas, the IPPR’s expert on health and prosperity. “People of all ages are getting sicker than they need to, which is a big economic problem.”
That economic backlash has led to 900,000 people missing from the workforce, leading to an estimated £5 billion ($6.6 billion) in lost tax receipts, the report said. Furthermore, better population health could save the NHS £18 billion a year by the mid-2030s, it added.
“Health is really important to the economy and the nature of our health crisis is undermining everything from wages, to the labour market to growth,” said Mr Thomas.
The proposed remedy is to move from a reactive health service to a proactive system that created “good health in all realms of life”, from schools to work and home. The chief goal is to add 10 years to Britain’s current life expectancy of 80 by 2055.
But before then Britain has to address immediate health concerns, particularly for those under 60. “If we don't put the brakes on this, then the challenge will get much bigger,” said Mr Thomas.
The biggest causes of death were nutrition and obesity, as well as pollution and the poor standard of private rented housing, which were all putting the NHS under great pressure.
Mr Thomas admitted there was some role for private health care to help with sickness levels, including using available beds to take pressure of the NHS. But ultimately it was the NHS that was “the vision for health care in this country”, with the service being cheaper and more effective.
Health polluters
The report also recommended the government go after “health polluters”, such as tobacco and alcohol, as well as unhealthy food companies by imposing new taxes that would raise more than £10 billion a year.
People who have been off sick long-term should be given the “right to try” to return to work with an “ironclad government commitment”, whereby they return to employment without the risk of losing their income support.
Britain’s worsening public health crisis was linked “to our faltering economic performance” with improved well-being as the “most important medicine our economy needs for faster growth”, the report said.
Mr Streeting agreed, saying he wanted to make the health department a place “for economic growth, because we won't build a healthy economy without a healthy society”.
The former Conservative government’s austerity reforms and Covid had “left the UK the literal sick man of Europe”, with life expectancy stagnating and economic inactivity increasing alongside a growing mental health crisis.
The commission also found 1,600 fewer infants would have died between 2020 and 2022, if improvements in child mortality had continued at the same rate as between 2001 and 2015.
Dame Sally Davies, former chief medical officer for England and Wales, said she had “long argued” that better health was Britain's “greatest, untapped resource for happiness, economic growth and national prosperity”.
“This commission has now provided the irrefutable evidence that this is true,” she added.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
FIGHT%20CARD
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
New schools in Dubai
Christopher Robin
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Haley Atwell, Jim Cummings, Peter Capaldi
Three stars
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
AGL AWARDS
Golden Ball - best Emirati player: Khalfan Mubarak (Al Jazira)
Golden Ball - best foreign player: Igor Coronado (Sharjah)
Golden Glove - best goalkeeper: Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah)
Best Coach - the leader: Abdulaziz Al Anbari (Sharjah)
Fans' Player of the Year: Driss Fetouhi (Dibba)
Golden Boy - best young player: Ali Saleh (Al Wasl)
Best Fans of the Year: Sharjah
Goal of the Year: Michael Ortega (Baniyas)
THE%20SWIMMERS
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECarla%20Gutierrez%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Frida%20Kahlo%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Pots for the Asian Qualifiers
Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
The%20specs%3A%20Taycan%20Turbo%20GT
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PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Saudi Cup race day
Schedule in UAE time
5pm: Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Cup (Turf), 5.35pm: 1351 Cup (T), 6.10pm: Longines Turf Handicap (T), 6.45pm: Obaiya Arabian Classic for Purebred Arabians (Dirt), 7.30pm: Jockey Club Handicap (D), 8.10pm: Samba Saudi Derby (D), 8.50pm: Saudia Sprint (D), 9.40pm: Saudi Cup (D)
PROFILE OF INVYGO
Started: 2018
Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo
Based: Dubai
Sector: Transport
Size: 9 employees
Investment: $1,275,000
Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri
