In the seventh session of the Symposium, Sir Harry Burns gives his personal perception on the GCPH and policy. He talks about the success of the Centre and how its unique set up has led to this success, how the Centre has influenced policy by providing scientifically robust data. Referring to the recent Report, ‘Psychological Social and Biological Determinants of ill Health’, he summarises how the growing body of evidence reinforces the impact of poor early life circumstances, low socioeconomic childhood status and accumulation of risk factors; the clear association between socioeconomic status and cognitive performance; the importance of the individual and their interaction with the world around them as a determinant of health outcomes. He talks about inequalities being the outcomes of a set of processes and the consequences of these outcomes, how the cultural drivers of wellbeing are ignored as they cannot be measured in the same way as, for example unemployment and hospitalisation rates. Compassion needs to be the main driver of wellbeing in society.

In this lecture Dr Burns reflects that recent trends show relative improvements in some Scottish health indices compared to other countries. However, health inequality remains an obstinate challenge in Scotland, with the greatest difficulties found largely in the Clydeside conurbation. The policy implications of this and the findings of recent research on the effects of stress on brain structure are considered.