Dear politicians in rich countries,

I write to issue a challenge to you: are any of you brave enough to really tackle health inequities both in your own country and between your country and the poorer countries of the world?

But I can hear some of you saying “yes but we already have a strategy, a committee or a policy within our health ministry to deal with inequity”. I know that, but nearly always they miss the mark. They consider behavioural risk factors, look at poverty reduction strategies or at increasing access to healthcare services. Yet the evidence indicates that the reasons inequities continue to exist is because of excess wealth and a world trading system that continues to perpetuate inequities. Oh dear! Have you stopped reading? Are you wondering why a professor of public health might be bothered about world trade rather than curing disease. Well it …