The deadly impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the most deprived areas in England and Wales has been even more pronounced than first thought, according to research that reveals the north-west lost three times more years of life than the south-west.
Deaths have been unevenly distributed socioeconomically and geographically ever since the crisis began. However, until now, the full scale of inequalities has been underestimated, a study published in the journal PLOS Medicine suggests.
In the new study, led by the University of Manchester, researchers measured years of life lost attributable to the pandemic – directly or indirectly, as well as excess deaths. Years of life lost is a strong measure of premature mortality because it takes into account both the number of deaths and the age at which they occur.
The findings of the new analysis are striking, researchers say, and suggest the true toll of the pandemic has been even deadlier in poorer areas than initially thought. “The impact of the pandemic, when quantified using years of life lost, was higher than previously thought on the most deprived areas of England and Wales, widening pre-existing health inequalities,” said Evangelos Kontopantelis, who led the research.
Between March and December 2020, 1,645 years of life were lost per 100,000 of the population in the most deprived areas of England and Wales. In the most affluent areas, 916 years of life were lost per 100,000 people. The figures mean that almost twice as many years of life were lost in the very poorest areas of the country compared with the wealthiest.
Stark inequalities were also found when examining excess deaths, especially in younger age groups, the researchers said. There were 11 times as many excess deaths in deprived areas compared with the most affluent areas in 15- to 44-year-olds, three times as many in 45- to 64-year-olds, and almost twice as many in 65- to 74-year-olds. Excess deaths were 40% higher in 75- to 84-year-olds living in the most deprived areas compared with the least.
Clare Bambra, a professor of public health at the University of Newcastle, explained: “These findings reiterate that the pandemic has been very unequal – people in our most deprived communities have suffered most.”
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