An iceberg in cold blue water whose submerged part spells “Aids” – many will remember the chilling message that Norman Fowler, Conservative health minister, spread across Britain in the mid 1980s. The campaign was a great success, as new diagnoses of HIV stabilised. It is a classic example of how raising awareness can be more effective than treating the consequences. With a World Health Organisation report painting a damning picture of discrepancies in life expectancy within the UK, healthcare has to go back on the campaign trail.

It is not a lack of access to healthcare per se that leads to a 28-year difference in life expectancy in two nearby communities in Glasgow. It is the daily living conditions that matter. The WHO blames “a toxic combination of bad policies, economics and politics” for shorter lives in poorer regions.