Len Duvall, 41, is chairman of the London Health Commission
since January this year and a member of the London Assembly (Greenwich
and Lewisham). He is also a former leader of Greenwich Council.
"We don't deliver services. But we can help those who are delivering
them by identifying the issues. London is a healthy place but
the environment matters a great deal. Working Londoners deserve
a cleaner environment, better air quality and, of course, there's
a need to reduce stress. Research shows that the more stressed
you are, the more likely you are to fall ill."
Issues such as banning smoking in more public places are, he
says, treated as a huge joke in some quarters when, in fact, their
implementation would be a major step forward for the future health
of the capital.
"Look at what they're doing over in New York: introducing a new
Bill extending areas where you cannot smoke in public. Things
like that really do improve people's quality of life and improve
outcomes later on."
London is, he says, a unique city with unique problems. "We have
pockets of great wealth beside pockets of great deprivation, and
social deprivation is more acute generally here than compared
to the rest of the UK.
"If you live in one part of London, for instance, you're more
likely to get certain illnesses. And if you're unemployed, you're
more likely to be ill than someone in a job. It's also a city
of contrasts. We have the most healthy and the least healthy,
so it's obvious we've got to start reducing the inequalities."
Publication:
Just the Job - Evening Standard (7 October 2002)