A shift to prevention will only succeed if ministers take a bold approach to regulation and lift people out of poverty
Dramatic increases in life expectancy are one of the defining achievements of the modern era. From 56 years for men and 60 for women in the UK a century ago, this vital measure of the quantity of life rose to 79 and 83 respectively in 2022. The trend towards increased longevity is global, although not all countries have seen gains on the same scale, and the pandemic sent it into temporary reverse.
We probably don’t talk about this enough. It is remarkable that most of us can expect to live for so long and that deaths from diseases such as tuberculosis, and of women in childbirth, have been so drastically reduced.
Quality of life is a different matter. Estimates of healthy life expectancy – the number of years during which people are in good health – are less reliable and more subjective than data based on deaths. But chronic and long-term illnesses have become more prevalent in the UK (and other western countries) as overall life expectancy has risen. Recent years have also seen highly troubling rises in health inequalities, including infant mortality and obesity. Last week, two thinktanks warned of worsening mortality rates across all four UK nations compared with other high‑income countries.
