Only half of us don’t take some kind of meds

NHS England dispensed 1.1 billion prescriptions in 2016, an increase of around 47% in a decade. This translates into nearly half of adults in England taking at least one prescription medicine. Of the 8,000 people questioned for the survey:

48% were taking one drug in the preceding week

24% were taking three, while among the over-75s, almost half were taking five or more.

One in seven adults are on statins, one in seven are taking drugs to control their blood pressure, and one in 10 are on antidepressants.

The greatest increase in prescriptions was for antidepressants – there were 3.7 million more items dispensed in 2016, up 6% on the year before.

In the areas described as most deprived:

54% of adults were taking at least one medicine, compared with 45% in the least deprived areas.