Annual Conference 2019: Realising the Right to Health
17/09/2019
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What do we understand by the Right to Health? What efforts are being made to make the Right a reality? What does all this mean in practice for our work as people and organisations working to tackle health inequalities and enable a healthier, fairer Scotland? This year’s Annual Conference will explore these important questions and will be of relevance to VHS members, other third sector organisations involved in health, health and social care partnerships, NHS boards, other public services and universities.
Find out more about what will happen on the day and who will be speaking
View more information about our speakers: VHS Annual conference speaker biographies 2019
View the full day agenda: VHS Annual conference Agenda 2019
Full VHS Members will be eligible for two free places
The Right to Health means the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. This means the right to health services but also to the conditions that help us live in good health from birth to old age – including our childhood experiences, housing, education, employment, family income, communities and social support. The Right to Health has been formally recognised in the UK since 1976 and is now very actively championed in Scotland by government, public agencies and the third sector. Our legislation and policies are strong and well-intentioned, but the persistence of health inequalities demonstrates that the Right to Health is still not enjoyed equally. There are still far too many unfair and avoidable differences in people’s health across social groups and between different population groups. They represent thousands of unnecessary premature deaths every year in Scotland.
- Keynote Speaker: Christina McKelvie MSP, Minister for Older People and Equalities
- Conference Chair: Cath Denholm, Director of Strategy, NHS Health Scotland
- Eddie Fraser, Director, East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership and Chief Officer, East Ayrshire Integration Joint Board
- Members of The Charter for Change Advocacy Group, Drink Wise Age Well
- Derek Todd, BSL Consultant, deafscotland
- Rosie Tyler-Greig, Policy and Influencing Manager, LGBT Health and Wellbeing
- Rachael McKechnie, National Engagement and Partnership Lead, Social Security Scotland
- David Donaldson, Gypsy Travellers Campaigner and Advocate
- Elspeth Gracey and Susan Paxton, Community Health Exchange (CHEX)
- Lucy Mulvagh, Director of Policy and Communications, The Alliance
Our 2019 Conference Sponsors:
Our 2019 Conference Exhibitors:
If you have any questions about the conference, please contact Lauren Blair
