00:00New research has highlighted a widening health divide between younger adults in northern and southern England.
00:06The study analysed deaths between 1981 and 2024.
00:11People aged 25 to 49 in the north had a death rate 42% higher than people of the same
00:18age in the south.
00:19In 1981, the difference was 13%. That gap has more than tripled.
00:25However, previous research by the same group found strong links between poor health and deprivation.
00:31The authors say the figures underline the need to address conditions affecting health and life expectancy.
00:38Professor Ian Buchan from the University of Liverpool said more than 3,000 people a year in northern England were
00:45dying before their time.
00:46He described the findings as shocking.
00:49He said poor health was holding back economic growth.
00:53He estimated that if people in the north were as healthy as the rest of England, the economy could be
00:58around £18 billion a year bigger.
01:01He said tackling the divide would benefit the whole country, not just northern communities.
01:06The study's authors say government and other organisations must act.
01:10They warned one policy introduced over a year or two will not solve the problem.
01:15The Department of Health and Social Care said someone's postcode should never determine how long they live.
01:21It said the government was determined to tackle health inequalities and was delivering new neighbourhood health centres in areas that
01:28need the most.
