Growing gap in early heart disease death rates between poorest and richest in England

The rate at which people are dying before the age of 75 from heart disease is rising more than twice as quickly in the poorest parts of England, we have revealed.

Since 2019, in the most deprived parts of England, the increase in early heart and circulatory disease death rates has been more than 2.5 times bigger than seen in England’s least deprived areas.

Latest figures for 2022 show that the 10% most deprived areas have a rate of 109 per 100,000, compared with 50 per 100,000 in the wealthiest 10% of areas. This has increased from 94 per 100,000 in the most deprived areas and 45 per 100,000 in the least deprived in 2019.

We reported in January that since 2019, the premature death rate for cardiovascular disease has risen year-on-year in England – a reversal of decades of progress to reduce early heart and circulatory disease deaths.

Latest figures show that in 2022, it reached the highest rate for more than a decade – an average of 79 per 100,000 people.

According to latest figures, in 2022 people living in the most deprived areas of England were more than twice as likely to die before turning 75 from cardiovascular conditions like heart attacks than people in the least deprived regions .

The 10 most deprived local authorities in England include Blackpool, Manchester, Hackney, and Birmingham. The least deprived 10 local authorities include rural regions and smaller cities such as Wokingham.

Links between health and wealth

We say more research is needed to understand the trend, but the reasons are likely varied and complex. The charity points to an established link between heart health and wealth as well as other factors, such as more people living with cardiovascular complications linked to Covid-19 infection, and ongoing extreme pressure on the NHS.

Successive Governments have also failed to address the causes of heart attacks and strokes on the scale needed, which is storing up problems for the future. These risk factors, which include obesity and high blood pressure, disproportionately affect people living in the most deprived communities.

We say immediate action is needed to stop the health divide between rich and poor from growing further. With a general election looming, the leading heart charity has launched a public pledge calling on politicians of every party to make heart disease a health priority.

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, our Chief Executive, said: “It is shameful in this day and age that someone can be at much greater risk of dying young from cardiovascular disease just because of where they live and how much money they have. 

“We’re in the grip of a historic heart crisis. Without urgent action, the heart health gap between the richest and poorest will continue to grow even wider. More people will lose loved ones to heart disease through no fault of their own.

“This isn’t a problem that can be solved overnight, but we can start making progress if politicians make heart disease a key health priority. This could save countless lives, helping to keep families together for longer in every community. If you agree, please support our campaign by adding your name to our online pledge.”

Urgent action needed

We say that reducing premature heart deaths will take urgent action on three fronts: the better prevention of heart disease and stroke, the prioritisation of NHS heart care, and the supercharging of cardiovascular research to unlock groundbreaking new treatments and cures.

Tackling the many causes of health inequalities is a crucial part of the plan. These include key drivers of poor health, such as obesity, diets high in fat, sugar and salt, smoking, alcohol consumption, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, our Associate Medical Director, said: "We’ve known for a long time that there’s a well-established link between heart health and wealth. Yet too many lives are still being lost far too young to heart disease due to this injustice.

“People living in the poorest areas can face poverty, pollution, fewer healthy, accessible and affordable food choices, as well as poorer working and living conditions. Meanwhile, people from the wealthiest areas tend to have better outcomes and better access to healthy lifestyles. 

“The gap in heart health between rich and poor is now widening at an alarming rate, and it’s happening at a time when the NHS is already struggling to tackle an enormous backlog of time-critical heart care. Urgent intervention is long overdue to prevent heart disease happening in the first place and to make heart care better, faster and fairer for everyone.”

In January 2023, the Government announced a Major Conditions Strategy to tackle the biggest drivers of ill health and early death in England, including cardiovascular disease. It is due to be published in full later this year.

An interim report published by the Department of Health & Social Care last summer made clear the scale and urgency of the rising tide of cardiovascular disease in the UK, but as the data now shows, there has been limited progress made to tackle this major cause of ill health.