US surgeon general warns of next public health priority: loneliness

Vivek Murthy, the US surgeon general, says loneliness ‘has to be a public health priority on par with tobacco and obesity’. Photograph: Office of the Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

There’s an ailment linked to increased heart attacks, depression, diabetes, crime and premature death in the US, and it’s affecting people no matter where they live or who they are: loneliness.

The US surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, released an advisory on loneliness and isolation on Tuesday and urged people and public officials to treat the matter with the same urgency as other serious conditions such as obesity or drug abuse as it continues to surge, affecting about half of the people living in the US.