Health and life expectancy inequality ‘still an issue in England’

New statistics for England have demonstrated a continued problem with health and life expectancy inequalities that are affecting the country.

The new Office for National Statistics report, conducted in association with Public Health England, indicate that discrepancies exist not only between the most and least deprived areas of the country, but also among the richest and poorest parts within local council areas.

Overall, it was revealed that the number of years an individual could expect to live in good health in 2009 to 2013 in England was 63.5 years for males and 64.8 years for females.

However, compared with the most deprived areas, the figures for those living in the least deprived areas were higher by 16.7 years for males and 16.8 years for females, with the difference being much greater for healthy life expectancy than it was for life expectancy in general.

The report also concluded that there has been little progress made on this front in the last decade.

Professor John Newton, chief knowledge officer at Public Health England, said: "The findings reinforce the need to address health inequality through public health and prevention, as all the evidence shows that the root causes of health inequalities like these lie largely outside the health service."