Call for mPs to tackle poor north east health
Political Reporter
THE British Medical Association has written to every MP in the North East warning that “concerted action” is required to tackle the “entrenched problem” of poor health in the region after it suffered a high death rate from coronavirus.
Official figures show people in the North East had an above-average chance of dying from the Covid-19 virus. But this reflects long-standing health inequalities according to the British Medical Association (BMA), which represents doctors.
In a letter sent to 29 MPs, the BMA North East regional council warned that “urgent political action” must be taken and called on the politicians to “champion this much-needed change”.
Regional council chair Dr George Rae said in the letter: “Before the pandemic, health inequalities had significantly widened, with the north/south health gap becoming ever more apparent.
“This trend has been tragically echoed during the pandemic, with Office for National Statistics data showing that people living in the poorest areas of the country are twice as likely to die from Covid-19 than those in the richest areas.”
Data from the Office for National Statistics show that over the three months from March to May, there were 97.3 Covid-19 deaths in the North East for every 100,000 people.
This is above the national average, of 81.2 deaths per
100,000.
The North East is not alone, as the death rate in the North West was roughly the same and in London it was higher. But in the rest of the country, the death rate was lower.
And other data suggests that the North East suffered from poor health before the coronavirus crisis. Life expectancy for men in the UK as a whole is 79.3 years. But in the North East, it’s 77.9 years.
One of the areas with the lowest life expectancy is South Tyneside, where it’s 77 years for men. It means average life expectancy for men in the borough is two years shorter than in the UK generally.
For women, average life expectancy is 82.9 years in the UK and 81.7 years in the North East.
Separate figures published by the NHS also show that people in the North East are more likely to be admitted to hospital with health conditions related to obesity. Experts say obesity is a result of eating unhealthy food as well as eating too much of it, which is why the problem is often worse in areas with lower average incomes.
There were 58 hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of obesity for every 100,000 people in the North East over 12 months. This compares to just 20 admissions for every 100,000 people in England as a whole.
The figure was highest in Sunderland, with 117 admissions per 100,000 people.
Dr Rae said: “The Government must now act to tackle regional health inequalities as a priority, and as an MP in the North East, I call on you to champion this much-needed change.”