Austerity to blame for 130,000 ‘preventable’ UK deaths – report

Two decades of public health improvements have stalled, says IPPR thinktank

More than 130,000 deaths in the UK since 2012 could have been prevented if improvements in public health policy had not stalled as a direct result of austerity cuts, according to a hard-hitting analysis to be published this week.

The study by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinktank finds that, after two decades in which preventable diseases were reduced as a result of spending on better education and prevention, there has been a seven-year "perfect storm" in which state provision has been pared back because of budget cuts, while harmful behaviours among people of all ages have increased.