Vast majority of Brits concerned about equal access to healthcare following pandemic, says 3M

• 80% of Brits say ensuring equal access to quality healthcare is a top priority for society in the next five years
• Following the pandemic and the amazingly rapid response from the scientific community, SOSI data now shows that around the world the overwhelming majority (97%) of people believe that science can solve some of the biggest societal challenges. In the UK that figure is 96%. Meanwhile, pre-pandemic in 2019, 42% of SOSI respondents globally who said they did not find science boring were interested in it because it was going to solve world issues.
• Beyond the pandemic, when Brits were asked what four healthcare advances they thought science should prioritise, they said:
  1. Cures for chronic disease (77%)
  2. Cancer treatments (72%)
  3. Addressing mental health issues (54%)
  4. Vaccines for future pandemics (54%)

Dr Helen Thomason, Ph.D., medical science liaison manager, 3M, commented: 

The pandemic put a spotlight on the state of healthcare in the UK and our latest State of Science Index shows desire across the country for urgent improvements to health equity. That means getting us all to a standardised level of health right across society.

Our data shows that Brits see science as vital to addressing this challenge, and it looks like the pandemic has heightened the desire for science to address these issues, with an overwhelming majority (97%) of people now believing that science is able to solve our biggest societal challenges.”