Fewer people being able to attend cancer screening appointments contributed to a fall in healthy lives across England during the second year of the pandemic.
Latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the measure for healthy lives under protective measures, including cancer screening and child vaccinations, saw the largest decline of any indicator of the index – falling 7.7 points.
The ONS attributed the decline to fewer cancer screening attendees in 2021.
Overall, the Health Index for England improved in 2021 compared with 2020, though it remained below 2019 levels.
The index has three domains, covering different areas of health: healthy people; healthy lives; and healthy places.
Healthy people improved by 2.1 points in 2021, but remained well below scores seen before the coronavirus pandemic.
The improvement was driven by respondents reporting better personal wellbeing, mortality and physical health conditions – up 7.7, 1.6 and 1.2 points respectively.
Though this was partly offset by deteriorating difficulties in daily life and mental health, which fell 2.5 and 0.8 points respectively.
Healthy lives declined 2.1 points in 2021, having also declined a similar amount in 2020; it had improved between 2015 and 2019, but these latest declines almost return scores to 2015 levels.
Within the healthy places living conditions increased by 1.3 points; with researchers citing improved household overcrowding and air pollution as the main contributor to this trend.
Impact of easing of lockdowns and vaccine rollout
Greg Ceely, principal statistician, Health Index and projections at the Office for National Statistics, said: “Today’s release provides more insight on how the pandemic affected so many aspects of our health.
“In 2021, the healthy people score improved on 2020, caused by improvements in personal wellbeing, mortality rates and physical health. This could partly reflect the easing of lockdown restrictions and the vaccine rollout.
“The healthy lives score, representing the behaviours and circumstances which affect our health, declined further in 2021.
“Meanwhile, the healthy places category saw continued improvement, largely due to a reduction in air pollution and household overcrowding.”