Society’s excluded people ten times more likely to die early

People excluded from mainstream society in high-income countries have a tenfold increased risk of early death, according to research from UCL, homeless health charity Pathway and an international team of experts. The researchers found the mortality rate among socially excluded groups including homeless people, people who sell sex, prisoners and people who use hard drugs, was nearly eight times higher than the population average for men, and nearly 12 times for women. By comparison, mortality rates for 15-64 year olds living in the poorest areas of England and Wales are 2.8 times the rate of those living in the richest areas for men and 2.1 times the rate for women. The two papers, published today in The Lancet journal, highlight the extreme rates of death and disease faced by excluded people and lay out clear evidence for interventions that can help save lives and prevent people from finding themselves in such desperate situations. The first paper shows that excluded people are more likely to be murdered or take their own life, but also more likely to die from accidents, overdoses, infectious diseases, cancers, liver disease, heart problems and respiratory diseases. In total, researchers analysed data from 38 countries with the UK, USA, Sweden, Australia and Canada providing the highest amount of data. The lead author of the first paper, Dr Robert Aldridge (UCL Institute of Health Informatics) said: "We know that excluded populations suffer from lack of access to basic healthcare, but this new research shows the frightening extent of the problem: it's much worse than we thought.