The UK is getting sicker, sooner-how do we reverse falling healthy life expectancy?

AI Summary

The UK is experiencing a decline in healthy life expectancy (HLE), a key public health measure indicating years lived without major illness or disability. After steady gains since 1946, recent data shows a concerning downward trend, prompting health policy discussions on future spending priorities.

Healthy life expectancy (HLE) at birth is a key measure of a population's health. While life expectancy tells us how long someone is expected to live, HLE measures the average years we can expect someone to live in good health, free from significant disability or chronic illness.1The UK made significant gains on this measure from 1946 to 2010. But several recent reports have concluded we are now falling behind.2 The health policy think tank the Health Foundation, which produced one of the reports, has described the trend as a “watershed moment” for public health.But what lies behind the numbers? And what does it mean for the future allocation of health spending?Self-reported HLE in the UK reached its peak in the three year period 2012-14, when it was 62.9 years for men and 63.7 years for women. (The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which gathers the data, uses a rolling three...