Acknowledgements
Scotland is extremely fortunate in having such effective information systems. The foundations of these systems were laid many years ago and they are now envied by many other countries. Our excellent data gathering is complemented by the excellence of the many researchers who study the data. The principal organisations involved in the production of this report are:
General Register Office for Scotland
The Information Services Division ( ISD) of National Services Scotland ( NSS)
Health Protection Scotland, also part of NSS
The Scottish Public Health Observatory, part of NHS Health Scotland
Glasgow Centre for Population Health
Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government Health & Social Care Directorates
I would also like to thank the team responsible for the Scottish Health Survey and I am grateful to ISD colleagues for the many illustrations and charts on monitoring health inequalities.
Individually, my thanks go to Dr Andrew Riley for the chapter on Infectious Diseases, Dr Andrew Fraser and Dr Lesley Graham for the chapter on the Health of Prisoners, Dr Jennifer McLean of the Glasgow Centre for Population Health and Drs Dominic Harrison, Antony Morgan and Erio Ziglio for their enormous contribution to the discussion of health assets.