If people want me to go round and talk to governments and others then I feel that responsibility which is why I am on the road a good deal of the time and why I'm not slowing down.
I've pursued a lifetime in the research on the social determinants of health and more recently been packaging not just my research but global research on this topic in a way that I hope will influence policy.
I'm not an Orthodox Jew, I don't practise much in the way of Jewish religion, but I am very Jewish and I think it probably does indeed influence what I do.
It's highly likely that what you're doing is indeed influenced by your Jewish background.
I came from a warm Jewish family.
I was born in North London, migrated to Australia when I was four. So when I first came to Australia people saw me as a little English boy. Over the years that feeling of being a little English boy diminished and I felt much more Australian.
I love Australia. I mean it's, how can you not? It's an incredibly beautiful country. I like the people, I like the country, I love it. I mean it's wonderful.
The academic life is wonderful. That's why people love to do research.
Once you get off the ladder you'll never get back on.
Our elected politicians do what they judge is the right thing to do. And if we disagree then I'll show them the evidence of why I disagree.
We have to put reduction of health inequalities at the centre of our public health strategy and that will require action on the social determinants of health.
Throwing young people on the scrap heap is a public health emergency.
Health and health inequalities tell us a great deal about the good or bad effects of social policies.
If the economists are arguing as to whether we need to cut or stimulate, because they're completely opposite policies, and they can't work it out then I would say let us work it out for you. Let's look at the lives people are able to lead, the effect of policies on the lives people are able to lead, and hence the likely effect on health and health inequalities.
Saying we can't afford to invest in early child development means we're storing up bigger costs in the future.
For every dollar spent on early child development you save $7 over the life course because children with better early child development are less likely to end up delinquent, involved in crime, unemployed and so on.
Empowerment of individuals and communities is absolutely central. Getting the community involved in organising their own destiny has got to be a key part of it.
The differences between Indigenous and not Indigenous Australians can be easily attributed not to differences in their genes but to differences in the conditions in which they're born, grow, live, work and age - in other words, to the social determinants of health.
Australia is a very healthy country which goes along with the fact that it's very high on the Human Development Index, high wealth, good levels of education. So Australia ranks right up there, second or third on the Human Development Index. And Indigenous Australians, if you treated them as if they were a separate country, would rank probably about 100th or below 100.
The environment can actually affect gene expression.
There's good evidence that if people are disempowered, if they have little control over their lives, if they're socially isolated or unable to participate fully in society, then there are biological effects.
The brain is an important gateway by which the social environment impacts on people's health through the mind.
I don't blame people for smoking when I see a social gradient in smoking. I say we need to understand why is it the lower you are in the hierarchy the more likely you are to smoke. So we need to address the causes of the causes.
Your position in the hierarchy influences your behaviour.
In Sweden for example people with PhDs have lower mortality than those with a masters degree. And people with a masters degree or a professional degree are not poor.
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