Source: BBC News,
UCL Research department of epidemiology & public health
Strategic Review cites access to technology as a core need in Fair Society, Healthy Lives.
The report says a minimum income should allow people to consume a healthy diet, take exercise and have technology such as broadband, that enables them to maintain social networks.
The Marmot Review - Fair Society, Healthy Lives has recently been released.
The aim of the Review was to propose an evidence based strategy for reducing health inequalities from 2010. The strategy includes policies and interventions that address the social determinants of health inequalities.
Doing nothing to tackle inequalities would cost the economy more, according to the review, which says inequality in illness accounts for £33bn of lost productivity every year.
The report says "action is essential" because more than three-quarters of the population experience significant illness by the age of 68 - which will by 2046, be the pensionable age for men and women in England.
And there's a call for NHS spending on preventing illness to be much higher than the current 4%, with more money going to initiatives such as providing statins and helping people to stop smoking.
The review also says the current minimum wage of £5.80 an hour is below the level needed for a healthy life.
It cites the higher pay levels recommended by the London Living Wage Unit - set up by then mayor Ken Livingstone and continued by Boris Johnson.
This calculated that Londoners need an hourly wage 16% higher than the national minimum rate to lift them above poverty.
The report states a minimum income should allow people to consume a healthy diet, take exercise and have technology such as broadband, that enables them to maintain social networks.
To read the full review or executive summary, log on to www.ucl.ac.uk/gheg/marmotreview