TACKLING inequalities in health will be the focus of an upcoming meeting.

Ways of improving the health of people living in a poor area of Banbury will be discussed at Oxfordshire's health and wellbeing board meeting on Thursday.

The county council's director of public health, Ansaf Azhar, set an aim of reducing health inequalities when the board met in February.

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At the meeting in February Mr Azhar said there were 10 areas of the county which are among the 20 per cent most deprived parts of England.A pilot scheme has been run in Banbury Ruscote to figure out why people living in poorer areas were often less healthy than in more wealthy areas.

A report to the board has shown the different areas where Banbury Ruscote has worse health than the average area of Oxfordshire.

This includes a higher than average rate of obesity in 10 and 11 year olds: 26.2 per cent in comparison with 16.3 per cent across the county.

Young people in Banbury Ruscote are also more likely to be admitted to hospital with injuries than the average in Oxfordshire.

It also has a higher rate of self-harm, cancer deaths and deaths from preventable causes than the Oxfordshire average.

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The scheme to profile poor areas of Oxfordshire is also due to be carried out in nine other deprived areas of the county, including at Blackbird Leys.

See the report and the full data for Banbury Ruscote by visiting mycouncil.oxfordshire.gov.uk/documents and searching for the Health and Wellbeing Board meetings.