Wednesday, October 31, 2018

The North-South Mortality Divide

Socioeconomic deprivation has led to a particularly sharp rise in deaths among 25 to 44-year-olds , according to new data analysis from Manchester university.

There has been a “profoundly concerning” rise in early deaths from accidents, suicide, alcohol misuse, smoking, cancer and drug addiction in the north of England, deepening the north-south divide, research has found. The north–south divide in mortality for people aged 25–44 years first emerged during the mid-1990s and continued into 2016. This mortality divide grew quickly during that period for accidents among men relating to alcohol and drug misuse, while a longstanding gap for cardiovascular deaths remained and a gap for male suicide emerged more recently.


Northerners in that age group were 47% more likely to die from cardiovascular complications, 109% from alcohol misuse and 60% from drug misuse, compared with southerners, the paper published in the Lancet Public Health medical journal stated.
Between 2014 and 2016, 3,530 more men and 1,881 more women aged between 25 and 44 died in the north than in the south, when population and age are taken into account.
Research also found that fatal traffic accidents were far more common in the north than the south, with nine of the 10 lowest-risk counties in the south. It suggests that poor transport infrastructure in the north could be to blame, with investment “heavily skewed towards the south, especially London”. Excessive speed, intoxication, failure to wear seatbelts, and unlicensed or uninsured driving are most prevalent in the most deprived areas in England. Pedestrians are also more likely to be killed in deprived areas, they claim.
Work-related fatal accidents were also higher in the north of England, mainly owing to variations in regional industries and occupations and their associated risks.
London had the lowest mortality rates, with the north-east having the highest, even after adjusting for age, sex and socioeconomic deprivation.
Suicide among men, especially at ages 30-34, is significantly more common in the north than the south.

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