A new report highlights how chronic pain, alcohol problems, COPD and cardiovascular disease are the key conditions which account for the huge inequality which makes the North East the least healthy region in England.
Research from the Health Foundation highlights how the four illnesses play a worrying role contributing to our area having the poorest life expectancy in the country. The charity - which works to analyse and improve health in the UK - has urged a "joined up approach to health" from whoever becomes the next Prime Minister.
The research "adds to the evidence of a north-south health divide", the charity said. It offered examples showing that a 60-year-old man living in the most deprived areas of England - and the North East has the highest proportion of such areas - would live an astonishing nine years less than those in areas of the East of England.
