Professor Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, the UK government’s Chief Medical Adviser, and head of the public health profession, discusses how as a society we face the hard truth that the more socio-economically disadvantaged someone is, the higher their risk of poor health. The world’s greatest killer is not any one individual disease, but the unequal way in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.

In Greater Manchester, our unique health and social care ecosystem means we can rapidly drive innovation and translate breakthroughs into real-world solutions – which can be scaled-up and replicated across the globe. We have the opportunity to create real and lasting change.

Discover how The University of Manchester is addressing health inequalities – creating fairer healthcare systems and healthier lifestyles.

This lecture was recorded on Tuesday, 13 February 2024 at the Whitworth and marked the launch of The University of Manchester’s Talk 200 lecture and podcast series.

Please note, this is an audio recording of Professor Whitty’s live lecture. For the full experience, including seeing Professor Whitty’s accompanying slides, you can watch the video recording on our YouTube channel or bicentenary website.

Find out more on our Talk 200 webpage or discover more about our wider bicentenary celebrations.

Find the full transcript of this episode on the Talk 200 webpage.

Episode chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(02:10) Lecture
(26:48) Q+A
(33:36) Outro