The cost of living crisis: how can we tackle fuel poverty and food insecurity in practice?

[摘要] BACKGROUND In the past few months the UK population has experienced compounded cost of living increases among soaring costs and decreases in real income. The current cost of living crisis is making life ever more difficult for families living on the knife edge of poverty, and we know that poverty is bad for your health.1 The poorer you are, the more likely you are to die from heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic lower respiratory illnesses, as well as suicide.2 The cost of living crisis is not only making our society poorer but also more systematically unfair. Health inequalities are caused by a wide range of factors, such as income, housing, and transport, which are all being targeted by price rises. This slide into increased poverty and health inequalities is deeply worrying for healthcare professionals who see the direct impact on their patients’ lives. I will focus here on just two areas: fuel poverty and food insecurity, as areas where primary care can, and perhaps should, get involved.

[学科分类] 卫生学