Abstract
We were grateful to read the article by Hoernke in JRSM calling for a health equity approach in recovery strategies from COVID-19. 1 A sustainable strategy based on social justice is crucial as the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated pre-existing health inequity, as described by the Marmot Review in December 2020. We wish to highlight the deleterious impact of pre-pandemic government policies on child health and poverty, which has been worsened by COVID-19.
The generation born between 2016 and 2020 are predicted to face the highest rate of relative child poverty to date – cuts to benefits for working-age families mean that nearly 40% of this cohort will live in poverty by the age of two. 2 Devastatingly, there has been an unprecedented rise in infant mortality from 2014 to 2017, with infant mortality rising for the first time in almost 40 years in the most deprived areas. 3 Furthermore, the UK government’s decision to restrict healthcare access for undocumented migrant children – a stark departure from the approaches of other comparable European countries – is directly endangering the health of these children.
In an ideal world, issues of child poverty and hunger would transcend politics. However, as the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights stated following his visit to the UK in 2018, ‘especially since 2010, poverty is a political choice’. Decisions made by elected officials in the UK ensure uncertainty around children’s isolation and suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. A social media furore has become necessary to ensure the provision of adequate food to children requiring free school meals, while their education is put on hold. As healthcare professionals in the sixth richest nation in the world, it is our duty to hold politicians accountable for their actions threatening the health of a generation of children in this country.
