LONDON, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Life expectancy has stopped improving for the first time in England in more than a century, as it even fell among the poorest in some of the most deprived areas, an academic report from the University College London (UCL) revealed Tuesday.
According to the report entitled Marmot Review 10 Years On, life expectancy in men across England has risen by just half a year, from 79.01 in 2010-12 to 79.56 in 2016-18. While in women it rose by about a third of a year from 82.83 to 83.18.
However, life expectancy has declined by almost a year for women living in the the poorest areas such as northeastern England, said the report.
Health inequalities have widened overall over the last decade, and the amount of time people spend in poor health has increased since 2010, it said.
"Life expectancy follows the social gradient -- the more deprived the area the shorter the life expectancy. This gradient has become steeper; inequalities in life expectancy have increased," said the report.
Led by Michael Marmot, director of the UCL Institute of Health Equity, the study showed that the slow-down in life expectancy improvement in Britain is more marked than in most European and other high-income countries, except the United States.
The report warned that reducing health inequality has not been a priority since 2010, calling on the government to establish a national strategy to tackle health inequalities.
"Austerity has adversely affected the social determinants that impact on health in the short, medium and long term," the report said.
Jennifer Dixon, CEO of the Health Foundation which commissioned Marmot's review, called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government to take action to level up the health and wellbeing of the population, particularly between the north and south of England.
"A healthy population is one of the nation's most important assets," said Dixon.
