‘Inequality in health saw Covid hit us hard’
BRITAIN has one of the worst Covid-19 death rates in the world because of “deep-seated inequalities” in health, experts have said.
Sir Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology at University College London, said: “We came into the pandemic in a bad state. Then when it hit, what we saw were inequalities in health that for Covid-19 mortality look similar to mortality from all causes.”
In 2010, Sir Michael presented a landmark review of health inequalities in England, highlighting the growing gap between rich and poor. Last February he said improvements in life expectancy had stalled over the last decade and the health of the poorest people was declining.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about what to focus on for the next pandemic, he said: “Building back fairer, putting health and wellbeing at the heart of all government strategy.
“You can’t get away with defunding public services for a decade and then expect to be in a good place.”
Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, said there had been a “legacy of mistakes” – including cuts to public health spending and too many suffering from underlying conditions that increased their risk of severe Covid-19.
She said: “There has been a lot of focus on the public’s behaviour.
“Are we misbehaving in a way that’s not the case in other countries? I really fully reject that.”
She said one of the key failures was an “absolute inability to recognise we needed to address international travel”.