People living in deprived areas of the UK are likely to die decades earlier than their counterparts in more affluent areas, according to a new report which reveals a postcode lottery in life expectancy.

Not only is the burden of ill health and early death shared unequally around the world but also within individual countries, with stark differences often found between areas just a few miles apart, the study by the World Health Organisation found.

In Glasgow, a boy born in the Calton suburb is likely to live, on average, 28 years less than one born a few miles away in Lenzie.

Meanwhile life expectancy at birth for men in Hampstead, north west London, was on average 11 years longer than it was for men born in the vicinity of nearby St Pancras railway station.

Adult death rates were generally 2.5 times higher in the most deprived parts of the UK than in the most affluent.

The three-year investigation by the WHO’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health concluded that health inequalities are rife around the world and largely avoidable.

Experts found that the reason for such inequalities was not biology but social environment.

A “toxic combination” of bad policies, economics and politics was killing people on a large scale, the report said.

An example from the US recorded the fact that 886,202 deaths would have been averted between 1991 and 2000 if death rates between white and black Americans had been equal.

Highlighting inequalities between different parts of the world, it said a girl born in Lesotho, Southern Africa, was likely to die 42 years younger than another born in Japan.

In Sweden, one in 17,400 women died during childbirth, compared with one in eight in Afghanistan.

But good health is not necessarily dependent on wealth, with some low income countries performing far better than expected, the Commission found.

It cited Cuba, Costa Rica, China, Sri Lanka and the State of Kerala in India as having achieved a level of overall health out of all proportion to their wealth. This was largely because of a historic commitment to health as a social goal, universal health coverage for all social groups, the participation of communities in decision-making and a strong focus on social welfare and development in general, it said.

The report concluded: “The toxic combination of bad policies, economics and politics is, in large measure, responsible for the fact that a majority of people in the world do not enjoy the good health that is biologically possible. Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale.”

The report’s recommendations included providing “universal health care”, and social security protection “from the cradle to the grave”, full employment with a “living wage”, affordable housing, and “investment in early child years”.

Improving health was proven to have significant economic benefits, by reducing necessary expenditure on remedial healthcare and increasing productivity, it said.

Commission chairman Professor Sir Michael Marmot said: “What we want policy to do is to create the conditions that empower people so that all people have the freedom to live flourishing lives.

“Following our recommendations would dramatically improve the health and life chances of billions of people.”

Responding to the UK findings, Health Minister Ann Keen insisted that Britain was at the forefront of fighting health inequalities, but acknowledged: “The challenge of reducing the gap in life expectancy is still very much an issue.”

She pointed to the NHS as “a global example of healthcare for all, regardless of ability to pay”, adding that Lord Darzi’s review would put improving access and reducing inequalities at the heart of reforms.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson would be hosting an international conference to discuss the report’s findings in November, Ms Keen reported.

The Commission brought together hundreds of researchers and other experts from universities, institutions, ministries and non-government organisations to contribute to the study.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Swine flu vaccine for all as drug rushed through
• Artificial sperm and the race to build a baby
• BBC jets out stars to tout for prizes