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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n Britain<\/a> is the \u201csick man of Europe\u201d when it comes to health, according to a new report which highlights serious concerns about a rise in the number of people off work due to long-term illness.<\/p>\n Health challenges facing the nation have reached \u201chistoric proportions\u201d, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research<\/a> (IPPR).<\/p>\n Researchers point to a stark rise in people who are missing from the workplace due to long-term illness since 2020.<\/p>\n They examined absence trends pre-2020 and compared them to the number off work due to long-term sickness at the start of 2024.<\/p>\n They found that 900,000 more workers were off work due to long-term sickness compared to what would have expected to have occurred had pre-2020 trends continued.<\/p>\n And this figure may grow significantly higher, they warned.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile it is hard to predict whether increases in economic inactivity due to sickness will plateau or continue to grow in coming years, should the rate of growth continue at the same pace it has since 2020, we would expect economic inactivity due to sickness to reach 4.3 million by the end of the next parliament,\u201d the researchers said.<\/p>\n It comes as part of the final report of the IPPR\u2019s Commission on Health and Prosperity.<\/p>\n The Commission is co-chaired by Lord Darzi \u2013 who recently led a hard-hitting review into the state of the NHS<\/a> for the Government<\/a> \u2013 and England\u2019s former chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies.<\/p>\n Lord Darzi\u2019s wide-ranging review, published last week, concluded that the NHS is \u201cin serious trouble\u201d and has prompted Labour to promise wide-spread reform of the health service.<\/p>\n Now the new IPPR report also highlights how long-term illness is impacting productivity and the labour supply.<\/p>\n \u201cThe term the \u2018sick man of Europe\u2019 is often used to describe countries going through severe economic turmoil or social unrest. In Britain today, it has become a more literal reality,\u201d the authors wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lag our peers on health outcomes, the number of people with a long-term condition is rising, and people are spending longer in poor health. And health is worsening throughout the life course \u2013 bringing real challenges for children, adolescents, working-age adults, and those who have retired.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is, the nation\u2019s health challenges have reached historic proportions.\u201d<\/p>\n The nation\u2019s health challenges have reached historic proportions<\/p>\n IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity<\/p>\n The authors suggest that better population health could save the NHS \u00a318 billion a year, and the 900,000 \u201cmissing workers\u201d could have caused a loss of tax revenue of up to \u00a34.5 billion in 2023, they add.<\/p>\n The authors say that improving the nation\u2019s health could be an \u201cinnovative strategy to revitalise the economy\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cBetter health will only be possible if we move from a sickness model of health policy to a health creation one,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n This model could \u201cfocus intervention on the places where people really spend their time\u201d \u2013 work, school, at home and in communities.<\/p>\n The authors say this could include:<\/p>\n \u2013 A \u201cright to try\u201d for people on health or disability benefits: a government commitment of a new and guaranteed period where people in receipt of benefits can try work with no risk to welfare status or award level.<\/p>\n \u2013 A new neighbourhood health centre in every part of the country.<\/p>\n \u2013 More tax for so-called \u201chealth polluters\u201d including tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food companies to raise money which could fund new health schemes.<\/p>\n \u2013 Universal free school meals, restoration of Sure Start centre funding and an end to the two child limit on benefits.<\/p>\n \u2013 New Health and Prosperity Improvement zones.<\/p>\n A health creation model could potentially add 10 years to healthy life expectancy by 2055 and to halve regional health inequalities, the IPPR said.<\/p>\n Here we are with food and drink companies, for instance, making massive profits from the unhealthy foods and drinks that they not only sell, but they advertise immensely<\/p>\n Prof Dame Sally Davies <\/p>\n rom the unhealthy foods and drinks that they not only sell, but they advertise immensely,\u201d she said.As a result of the Darzi review, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting have pledged to create a 10-year plan to turn the NHS around.<\/p>\n This will focus on three key areas \u2013 creating far more opportunities for care in the community, such as scans and tests in town centres and more GP appointments; preventing ill health taking hold in the first place through getting the nation to be healthier; and making sure the NHS makes the most of digital opportunities.<\/p>\n Lord Ara Darzi said: \u201cOur commission was among the first to identify the rising sickness as a major and immediate post-pandemic fiscal challenge. Now, as the Government sets up its health mission, our final report provides a ready made policy vision for a new approach to public health.\u201d<\/p>\n Dame Sally said the Government should \u201cprioritise a new beginning on childhood health,\u201d adding: \u201cNo one would question that education is both about a child\u2019s immediate wellbeing and their long-term economic prospects. The same is true for health.<\/p>\n \u201cWe simply should not tolerate decline in our children\u2019s health any longer \u2013 it is time for bold action to ensure a health inheritance for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the nation has become \u201csteadily sicker\u201d.<\/p>\n Measures to help the public could include tackling unhealthy foods using similar measures that were used to curb tobacco use, she told Sky News.<\/p>\n \u201cLibertarians will say, \u2018Oh, that’s wrong\u2019, but I would argue that nothing constrains freedoms more than sickness that could have been prevented, avoided or even better managed, so it’s really important that we help people<\/p>\n Prof Dame Sally Davies <\/p>\n \u201cHere we are with food and drink companies, for instance, making massive profits from the unhealthy foods and drinks that they not only sell, but they advertise immensely,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to take a lesson from how we\u2019ve prevented tobacco spreading, how we\u2019re beginning to control it and improve things, and do the same with unhealthy foods drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the Government should \u201cget into how we regulate to help support people being healthy,\u201d adding: \u201cLibertarians will say, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s wrong\u2019, but I would argue that nothing constrains freedoms more than sickness that could have been prevented, avoided or even better managed, so it\u2019s really important that we help people.<\/p>\n