Breathing Unequal: what needs to change?

Our latest research showed shocking inequalities in lung health across the UK. Laura from our Policy team tells us more about it and gives our recommendations for tackling it.

Exposing lung health inequalities

Healthy lungs are vital for a good quality of life. Being able to breathe properly,  exercise, and fight off common infections  are crucial for our overall health and well-being. However, if you are a person living with a lung condition, where you live and how wealthy you are affects your chances of managing your lung condition well. It can affect how often you might go to hospital, and even your chances of living a long life. This is because lung conditions can be caused and/or triggered by exposure to things that are related to poverty including air pollution, poor housing, tobacco smoking, and access to healthcare services.

All of these are drivers of health inequalities: unfair, avoidable, and systematic differences in health between different groups within society.

The Life with a Lung Condition survey

Earlier this year, we ran our Life with a Lung Condition survey to find out all about what your life is like with your lung condition. We received over 14,000 responses! We found out about your symptoms and triggers how you manage your lung conditions. And we heard your experiences of accessing healthcare and how the cost-of-living crisis has impacted you and your lung condition.

Our survey clearly demonstrated that people on a lower income level find it harder to manage their lung condition and access healthcare services. It also showed that the cost-of-living crisis is impacting deprived communities the most, making basic necessities, such as food and energy bills, unaffordable. This significantly reduces people’s ability to manage their lung condition well. The data supported the close relationship between smoking tobacco and deprivation; and how where you live can make you more likely to die from a respiratory condition.

The data is shocking. There’s a clear link between household income and quality of life for people with a lung condition. This is unfair and we believe the government can implement policy changes to stop this.

How the UK government can reduce health inequalities

Governments across the UK can play a crucial role in reducing health inequalities. They can make policy changes that will target the most vulnerable and address the gap in outcomes between people with lung conditions. The UK government has committed to reducing health inequalities and have made progress through establishing the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, and the creation of the NHS’s Core20plus5 approach, but they are yet to provide sufficient resources and strategies required to achieve the change that is needed. So, we have made seven recommendations:

1.      Reduce the impact that the cost-of-living crisis is having on those with lung conditions by providing tailored financial support to people with lung conditions on low incomes.

2.      All national health services to roll out fully resourced respiratory strategies covering prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment.

3.      Establish a Cleaner Travel Access Fund to help those who need it most to transition to cleaner modes of transport.

4.      Strengthen tobacco control plans in each of the UK’s four nations.

5.      Ensure health inequality policies are co-produced with the communities they are designed to support, specifically those who are most disadvantaged, most at risk of lung conditions, and under-represented in policymaking.

6.      Improve the data collected within the NHS on respiratory patients and their outcomes, ensuring disadvantaged communities are included in data collection.

7.      Commit to long-term, outcome-based health inequalities funding for local authorities and integrated care systems.

By following our recommendations and making fully-funded policy changes that address these health inequalities, governments across the UK will be able to improve the lung health of the whole of the UK.

You can read our full report on how health inequalities affect people with lung conditions here – link

Or a 1-page summary of the report here - link