Deeside.com > News
Posted: Mon 22nd Dec 2025
Health in North Wales is shaped long before people visit a GP or hospital, according to a new public health report which calls for action on the root causes of illness and inequality.
The Director of Public Health Annual Report for 2025, titled Building Health, has been published by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and examines how everyday conditions influence how long and how well people live .
The report focuses on what it describes as the “building blocks of health”, including income, education, employment, housing, transport, access to green space and strong social connections. It argues that these factors play a greater role in shaping health outcomes than healthcare alone.
According to the report, people living in the most deprived parts of North Wales can expect to spend around 12 more years in poor health than those in the most affluent areas. While overall life expectancy remains relatively high, healthy life expectancy, the years lived in good health, is significantly lower across the region.
Dr Jane Moore, Executive Director of Public Health, said the report was intended as a call to action.
“The building blocks of health and wellbeing shape our lives long before we enter a clinic or a hospital,” she said.
“Health is shaped by the society we build, the communities we nurture, and how we, as individuals, are able to navigate the challenges and opportunities we encounter.”
The report sets out evidence showing that around 40 per cent of health outcomes are influenced by social and economic factors, compared with around 30 per cent by individual health behaviours. It highlights that while personal choices matter, they are strongly shaped by the environments people live in.
Examples include access to safe housing, reliable transport and affordable healthy food. The report also points to the role of community connection, noting that loneliness is linked to poorer physical and mental health.
The report is structured around four ambitions for North Wales: building strong foundations for children and young people, creating fairer communities, designing healthier places, and embedding health and wellbeing into decisions across public services.
It also aligns with Wales’ commitment to become the world’s first “Marmot Nation”, a policy approach aimed at reducing health inequalities by addressing disadvantage across the life course.
Dr Moore said: “This report is a call to action — for public services, communities, and individuals — to build health together, block-by-block, for a fairer and healthier future.”
The Director of Public Health Annual Report is a statutory document published each year under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The 2025 report was considered and approved by members of the health board at a meeting last month.
The report concludes that meaningful improvements in health will depend on long-term, joined-up action across councils, health services, voluntary organisations and communities, rather than short-term fixes within the NHS alone.
Spotted something? Got a story? Email news (@) deeside.com
Latest News