LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th June, 2021) England's poor areas experienced a sharp fall in life expectancy and a rise in social inequalities last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a leading UK health authority said in a report released on Wednesday.
According to the study commissioned to the director of the University College London's Institute for Health Equity, Michael Marmot, by the Greater Manchester authority, life expectancy in north-west England fell in 2020 by 1.6 years for men and 1.2 years for women, compared with 1.3 years and 0.9 years, respectively, across England as a whole.
The report also found that the COVID-19 death toll in the Manchester City region was 25% higher than in the rest of England during the 13 months to March, 2021.
"I'd like to think what we are doing in Greater Manchester will be very important for Greater Manchester, but will also potentially provide a blueprint for the rest of the country," Marmot said, adding that his findings are "generalisable" across other deprived areas of England, including poorer parts of London.
Commenting on the findings, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham stressed that the COVID-19 pandemic has "brutally" exposed how unequal England actually is.
"People in low-paid, insecure work have often had little choice in their level of exposure to Covid - and the risk of getting it and bringing it back home to those they live with," the Labour politician said.
The recommendations Marmot made to the UK Conservative government for levelling up included investing extra resources for early year cares, better mental health services for young people, and measures related to the environment and workplaces.
