Over 330,000 excess deaths in Great Britain linked to govt. austerity measures: Study

A new study shows that in recent years, more than 330,000 excess deaths have occurred in Great Britain due to the UK government's forced reduction in public services and benefits following the implementation of austerity policies of the UK government in light of economic and social conditions.

The study says that the excess deaths occurred between 2012 and 2019 and before the coronavirus epidemic, indicating an increase in premature deaths of people after experiencing a decrease in income, poor personal living conditions and nutrition, inappropriate housing and social isolation.

It also showed that the trend of these deaths has started to change since 2010, after the implementation of austerity policies of UK's Conservative government in reducing tens of billions of pounds in public spending.

The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, also found there were 334,327 excess deaths beyond the expected number in England, Wales and Scotland over the eight-year period.

The findings of the research come as the current Conservative government has announced a new round of public spending cuts following the aggravation of the financial and economic crisis in Europe, especially in the United Kingdom due to significant budget cuts.

The research, led by the University of Glasgow and the Glasgow Center for Population Health, concluded that there is a "clear and urgent need" for the government to reverse the results of these policies and implement new strategies to protect vulnerable people.

Europe's Economic Crisis and World Recession

The bad economic news in Europe has reached a level where both the IMF and WTO have warned that a worldwide recession is looming.

Professor Gerry McCartney, professor of wellbeing economy at the University of Glasgow and one of the authors of the article said, “As the UK government debates current and future economic direction, it needs to understand, and learn from, the devastating effects that cuts to social security and vital services have had on the health of the population across the whole of the UK.”

Co-author Ruth Dundas, professor of social epidemiology at the University of Glasgow, said that, “This study shows that in the UK a great many more deaths are likely to have been caused by UK government economic policy than by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The academic study also said that of the excess deaths, there were 237,855 among men in England and Wales and 12,735 among men in Scotland. Of these deaths, 77,173 in England and Wales and 6,564 in Scotland were women.

The death rate due to the implementation of the UK government's austerity policies has increased by 3% in 20% of the deprived areas of England. Meanwhile, premature deaths in the fifth deprived areas show an increase of 6 to 7 percent among men and women.

Previous studies have linked the austerity policies in the health, treatment and social care sectors with the rate of premature deaths as well as the reduction of life expectancy among the deprived sections of the society.

A spokesman for the British government said,  “Our growth plan will deliver economic growth across the UK – which is the best way to raise living standards for everyone. We’re also supporting households with rising prices through our energy price guarantee, saving the average household around £1,000 a year for the next two years, and providing at least £1,200 of additional cost of living support for 8 million of the UK’s most vulnerable households.”

Humza Yousaf, Minister of Health of Scotland also said: “This is a shocking finding which underlines the true human cost of austerity and reinforces the urgent need for the UK government to change course from its current budgetary proposals.”

In this regard, Christina McAnea, the general secretary of the trade union Unison believes that the policy of economic austerity can never be a good solution and the implementation of the policy was a failed experiment that had severe consequences and took the lives of many people.

The UK is grappling with skyrocketing inflation which has been unprecedented for decades, prompting thousands of people in different industries to strike over payments, as they have serious trouble making ends meet.

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