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Action must be taken to prevent deprivation-linked child deaths
27 May 2021
Action must be taken to reduce the levels of deprivation which lead to deaths of infants and children, as these inequalities are avoidable and “putting them right is a matter of social justice,” says Professor Sir Michael Marmot (UCL Epidemiology & Public Health).
About 700 child deaths could be avoided each year in England by reducing rates of social deprivation, according to an NHS England-funded report.
The research, which analysed the records of 3,347 children who died in England between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020, identified a clear association between the risk of death and level of deprivation, for all categories of death apart from cancer.