The UK Audit Commission has released a new 10-year review of health inequalities that begins with these words: “The health of people in England has improved over the past ten years. Life expectancy has increased, infant mortality has fallen. Government targets to cut death from heart disease and stroke by 2010 have already been met. But if the big picture is positive, stark problems remain. Inequalities in the health of people from certain areas and social backgrounds has stubbornly resisted improvement, and has even increased in some cases.”