COVID mortality rate 25% higher in Greater Manchester, report finds

A 25% higher COVID mortality rate in Greater Manchester has led to a “jaw-dropping” fall in life-expectancy in the North West of England, according to a new report.

The figure was calculated for the 13 months to March 2021.

Sir Michael Marmot’s report into health inequality in Manchester and how to address the issue has called for local authorities to receive more government support in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The professor of epidemiology at University College London (UCL) stated in the document that life expectancy dropped by 1.6 years for men and 1.2 years for women in the North West, compared to 1.3 years and 0.9 years respectively in England over 2020.

Among the contributing factors identified in the report were “regressive” cuts to public funding since 2010, as “poorer areas and those areas outside London and the South experienced proportionately larger cuts”.

It also highlighted black British people and those of south Asian descent had higher mortality rates from COVID, adding that “while much of this can be attributed to where people live and work and socioeconomic disadvantage, structural racism is also a cause of these disadvantages”.

Prof Marmot’s report, produced by UCL’s Institute of Health Equity and commissioned by the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, provided a framework with recommendations to help the Manchester region “build back fairer”.

The professor said the government must pay attention to “what we’re recommending”, adding that he hopes the framework can become a “beacon for the rest of the country”.

The report’s recommendations included prioritising children, investing more in prevention and introducing standards for healthy living.

Follow the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts,  Google Podcasts,  Spotify, Spreaker

It also called for greater devolution, including a target to “further involve communities in the design and delivery of interventions to support their health and wellbeing”.

The Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, which commissioned the report, was set up as a devolved health body and since 2016 has been in control of £6bn spent on health and social care in the region.

Professor Marmot said: “I’d like to think what we are doing in Greater Manchester will be very important for Greater Manchester, but will also potentially provide a blueprint for the rest of the country.

“If we are serious about levelling up, this is the way to do it. And if the government doesn’t get active, what they’ll find is that local governments all around the country are doing it.

“The time to do it is now, the reason for doing it is to create greater equity of health and wellbeing.”

Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “The pandemic has brutally exposed just how unequal England actually is. People have lived parallel lives over the last 18 months.

“People in low-paid, insecure work have often had little choice in their level of exposure to COVID; and the risk of getting it and bringing it back home to those they live with.

“Levelling up needs to start in the communities that have been hit hardest by the pandemic.

“To improve the nation’s physical and mental health, we need to start by giving all of our fellow citizens a good job and a good home.

“We are grateful to Michael Marmot for showing how Greater Manchester can improve the health of our residents and we hope the government will back us with the resources and powers to put better health at the heart of our recovery.”

Read Entire Article