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The government must prioritize health financing for the most disadvantaged regions after the coronavirus crisis, politicians and public health experts have demanded, after a new data analysis revealed the devastating scale of the death toll in the parts poorest in England and Wales.
In the findings, an expert said he highlighted the fact that Covid-19 “is not a leveler” as politicians have repeatedly asserted, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that those living in the poorest parts of England and Wales were dying at twice the rate of those in the wealthier areas.
With 55.1 deaths per 100,000 people in the most disadvantaged places compared to 25.3 in the least disadvantaged, the King’s Fund group of health experts demanded that the government focus new resources to reverse health inequalities as the crisis unfolds. calm.
The findings came when 739 other people died across the UK, totaling 27,510. They echo the Guardian’s report last week that members of minority ethnic groups were particularly affected by the virus, and BAME background members overrepresented the number by 27%.
Responding to the analysis at the government briefing on Friday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock acknowledged the problem and said, “This is something we are concerned about and we are seeing.”
He added, however, that the findings should be viewed in the context of disproportionate deaths among men, the elderly, minorities and other subgroups. “We are looking at it in the context of all the different ways this disease appears to have a different impact,” he said.
Critics said the impact of austerity on the poorest communities was behind the new data. Steve Rotheram, the Labor mayor of the Liverpool city region, argued that deprivation should be a factor in how expenses are allocated to meet the costs incurred during the crisis. Liverpool has one of the highest Covid-19 death rates outside London, at 303 deaths, amounting to 81.8 deaths per 100,000 people, and is the local authority that has suffered the biggest cuts to its budget since 2010.
City region councils are already warning of a £ 137 million funding gap between the money they have spent to treat the coronavirus and funds promised by the government, Rotherham said. He called for a change in the Treasury’s “green book” methodology, which guides government spending, to prioritize the most disadvantaged areas, rather than the per capita approach it currently takes.
“Deprivation must be taken into account in the methodology of the Treasury book in all areas, but specifically in relation to this. Local authorities were promised “whatever it takes.” The first allocation of funds was awarded on an as-needed basis, but the second was not, “he said.
Maggi Morris, a health consultant and former chief of public health in central Lancashire, said that the conservative governments’ economic policies of the past decade had done nothing to help reduce health inequalities. “In fact, they have exacerbated them,” he said.
The government must reverse changes in benefits, he said, particularly cuts to the housing subsidy and the room tax, which had forced more people to live in tight quarters where the disease spreads more easily.
The ONS data exposed the lie that Coronavirus attacks everyone equally, he said. “It is not a leveler. More people who are socially and economically disadvantaged will not only get sick, but they will get sick and die in greater numbers than the privileged. This disease knows where to find the weakest links. “
Along with the King’s Fund, he called for a national strategy to address health inequality. “There has been no national strategy because it does not want to recognize that disparities exist,” he said.
London’s poorest neighborhoods have the highest Covid-19 death rates led by England and Wales, led by Newham, with 144.3 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Brent at 141.5 and 127.4 at Hackney. Other local authorities, including Hertsmere, Salford, Watford, Luton, Sandwell and Slough, also reported rates in excess of 65 deaths per 100,000 people.
In Middlesbrough, where 89 people died of coronavirus, which is equivalent to 79 deaths per 100,000, the male life expectancy is only 75.3, compared to almost 84 in the wealthy London Borough of Westminster.
Andy McDonald, the local Labor MP, said: “Middlesbrough’s health profile is horrible and we know what it is about. It is about poverty and inequality and you cannot escape that.”
ONS data is standardized by age, which means that the age profile of people living in each area has been taken into account. But David Buck, a former deputy director for health inequalities at the health department and now a policy advisor at King’s Fund, said he suspected additional data analysis would show younger people dying of Covid-19 in poorer areas.
“We know that the more private your situation is, the more likely you are to have comorbidities like diabetes. We know that those long-term multiple conditions are much more frequent the poorer they are, but also in a younger age group … I haven’t looked at the data, but that would be my bet, “Buck said.
The World Health Organization recommends that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure and transmission of the coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine.
The UN agency advises people to:
- Wash your hands often with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer or warm soapy water
- Cover your mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or handkerchief when sneezing or coughing
- Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough
- Seek early medical help if you have a fever, cough, and shortness of breath, and share your travel history with healthcare providers.
- Tips on masks vary. Using them while away from home may offer some protection against the spread and capture of the virus through coughing and sneezing, but it is not a guarantee of cast iron protection.
Many countries are now applying or recommending curfews or blockades. Check with local authorities for updated information on the situation in your area.
In the UK, the NHS’s advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay home for at least 7 days.
If you live with other people, must stay home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.
The government should reintroduce targets to reduce inequality, which were ruled out by the coalition government in 2012, Buck said: “There were very specific health inequality targets, for differences in life expectancy across the country and differences in mortality . The King’s Fund believes it is time for us to return to a national strategy of health inequality. “
And Dr. Zubaida Haque, deputy director of the Runnymede Trust, said the figures show that the government can no longer continue with a one-size-fits-all approach and that ethnic minorities are over-represented in the lowest-paid and key-worker jobs.
“The government needs to implement more economic and social measures that also take into account BAME’s socio-economic and housing circumstances, such as overcrowding. For the time being, the government has told older people to isolate themselves, but that is not a practical solution for older people living in overcrowded housing. “
He added that the focus on PPE must include all key workers, not just the NHS.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Assistance said: “We have commissioned urgent work from Public Health England to understand the different factors that can influence the way someone is affected by this virus. We will expose all the details in due course. ”
Nick Stripe, head of health analysis at ONS, said: “Overall death rates are typically highest in the most disadvantaged areas. “But so far Covid-19 seems to be taking them even higher.”
Of the 20,283 Covid-19 deaths recorded in England and Wales as of April 17, an overwhelming proportion were of people from the poorest areas.
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