Catalogue description Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health (Acheson Committee): Records

The Terms of Reference of the Inquiry set up by the Secretary of State for Health in July 1997 were as follows:

'To moderate a Department of Health review of the latest available information on inequalities of health, using data from the Office for National Statistics, the Department of Health and elsewhere. The data review would summarise the evidence of inequalities of health and expectation of life in England and identify trends;

In the light of that evidence, to conduct - within the broad framework of the Government's overall financial strategy - an independent review to identify priority areas for future policy development, with scientific and expert evidence indicates are likely to offer opportunities for Government to develop beneficial, cost effective and affordable interventions to reduce health inequalities;

The review will report to the Secretary of State for Health. The report will be published and its conclusions, based on evidence, will contribute to the development of a new strategy for health.'

The findings of the Inquiry were published in November 1998 and the report was influential in the government's strategy fot tackling health inequalities, which was set out within the White Paper, Saving Lives: Our healthier Nation, published in July 1999.