Avoidable mortality in England and Wales remains higher than before pandemic, data show

New data showing that avoidable mortality in England and Wales remained higher in 2022 than before the covid-19 pandemic demands an urgent policy response, public health leaders have urged.More than one in five of all deaths in England and Wales in 2022, the most recent year with complete figures, were avoidable, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on 18 June.1Responding to the new data, the Royal Society for Public Health highlighted the stark and widening regional inequalities in avoidable mortality, the “heartbreaking” rise in mortality for children and young people, and the rise in alcohol and drug related deaths. William Roberts, the society’s chief executive, said the statistics reflected “enormous suffering.”“The rise of deaths that are considered avoidable is tragic. It doesn’t have to be this way,” he said and called for urgent action to help reduce health inequalities, child poverty, and the crisis of ill health in the…
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