IN A bid to tackle health inequalities in the city, a council has pledged £100,000 for targeted interventions.

Following the publication of the Oxfordshire Health Inequalities Commission Report, Oxford City Council has pledged funding to tackle health problems.

Figures show how men living in Blackbird Leys have a life expectancy of 75 years, compared to men in North Oxford living until 85.

Councillor Marie Tidball said: “We are determined to tackle the scourge of health inequality and I’m pleased this commitment has been confirmed.

“We hope this will be matched by partners in the Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group to create a pot of funding, to be spent on initiatives which address early intervention and prevention in this important area.

“This is an opportunity for the council to work alongside the NHS to pursue local projects to narrow the atrocious gap in life expectancy in different parts of Oxford.

“This could include supporting schemes to extend “healthy new town” approaches, or the expansion of “social prescribing”, where people approaching their doctor are able to get help with wider issues affecting their health.”

Yesterday the Oxford Mail revealed figures showing that people from the most deprived 20 per cent of wards were 6.6 times more likely to die in hospital than those from wealthier areas.