One million died prematurely in a decade because of health inequalities

More than one million people in England died prematurely in the decade after 2011 through a combination of poverty, austerity and Covid, a damning new report has concluded.

The study, Health Inequalities, Lives Cut Short, has been produced by the Institute of Health Equity (IHE) at University College London, which is led by Sir Michael Marmot, author of seminal Marmot Review in 2010.

The latest report, by Professor Peter Goldblatt, used figures from the Office for National Statistics to look at the life expectancy of people across England who do not live in the wealthiest 10% of areas.

Using this data, the IHE made calculations about the number of excess deaths (the increase in the number of deaths beyond that would be expected) in the decade from 2011 in England.

The findings, the institute argued, add weight to two recent reviews of health inequalities published in 2020, the Marmot Review 10 years On and COVID-19 Marmot Review.

These argued that the cumulative impact of regressive funding cuts (which have hit poorer areas more deeply), associated with austerity, have contributed to life expectancy failing to increase, and actually falling for women in the 10% of poorest areas, and health inequalities widening.

The period from 2011 to 2019 saw 890,000 people dying earlier than they otherwise would have done had they experienced the death rates seen in the least deprived quintile (20%) of areas, the report concluded.

Around 102,000 of these deaths were additional to what might have been expected based on levels in the two years prior to 2011.

In 2020, with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, the level of excess deaths rose by more than a further 24,000 compared to over the previous five years, it added.

The report stated: “Based on weekly monitoring figures published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), there were nearly 11,000 more excess deaths in the most deprived 80 per cent of areas during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 than in the least deprived 20 per cent.

“This suggests that over 13,000 deaths in 2020 (the difference between 24,000 and 11,000 deaths) were associated with the pre-existing trend in mortality due to inequality,” it added.

Marmot told The Guardian newspaper: “One million premature deaths, made dramatically worse by austerity, is a shocking political failure. The worse health of the more deprived 90% of the population, compared to the best-off 10%, means that health inequalities involve the majority of society.

“If you needed a case study example of what not to do to reduce health inequalities, the UK provides it. The only other developed country doing worse is the USA, where life expectancy is falling.

“Our country has become poor and unhealthy, where a few rich, healthy people live. People care about their health, but it is deteriorating, with their lives shortening, through no fault of their own. Political leaders can choose to prioritise everyone’s health, or not. Currently they are not,” Marmot added.

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