This blog post was written by Rossella De Falco, our head of the right to health campaign, and was originally published in the Conference Bulletin of Resolve Poverty’s Annual Conference in March 2025.

Poverty in the UK is not just a financial issue—it has severe health consequences, with those in the most deprived areas facing disproportionately high rates of avoidable deaths and shorter life expectancies.

To address the health impacts of poverty, the right to health needs to be at the centre of health legislation, regulation, policy and governance.

The health impacts of poverty

Concerningly, poverty has a profound and long-lasting impact on people’s lives, including their physical and mental health. In fact, people living in poverty often lack the financial means to access adequate clothing, heating or food.    

The correlation between poverty and declining health outcomes is clear. As of 2020, in the most deprived areas of England, avoidable deaths accounted for approximately 40 per cent of all male deaths compared with 18 per cent in the least deprived areas in 2020; for female deaths, it was 27 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.

People living in poverty may also be experiencing homelessness, precarious working conditions, unemployment, racism, or unsafe living conditions. These different sources of discrimination combine and reinforce each other, creating unique forms of oppression. For instance, people experiencing homelessness have a life expectancy of only 47 years (for women experiencing homelessness this drops to 43 years). This means almost a 30-year gap when compared to the life expectancy of 77 years for the general population.

Health is a human right

Achieving a  right to health is about creating a world where everyone can access quality healthcare throughout their life, regardless of where they live, what they earn, their gender, age, or ethnicity. It is also about enjoying universal access to a range of factors that improve physical and mental health, like adequate housing, food, green spaces, equitable working conditions, healthy relationships and a healthy environment.  

International law makes these demands a legal obligation. In 1976, the UK ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which includes the right to health.

By reframing poverty as stemming from institutionalised injustice rather than individual choices, human rights allow us to tackle its health impacts as a matter of law rather than charity.  

The solution

To address the health impacts of poverty, the right to health needs to be at the centre of health legislation, regulation, policy and governance.

Currently, we have indirect and limited accountability mechanisms for the protection of human rights in health and social care in UK law.

For instance, the Human Rights Act (HRA) can indirectly provide remedies and redress when elements of the right to health are violated. Likewise, as the UK has ratified the core human rights treaties, United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies periodically review and issue recommendations to the UK over health and other social rights. As part of one such review, in January 2025, Just Fair submitted evidence to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (UN CESCR) seventh review of the UK, on behalf of civil society in England, including on the right to health.  However, reviews are not enough; It is time for everyone in the UK to enjoy quality healthcare, access to adequate living and working conditions, and a healthy environment, not as a privilege but as a right. 

It is time to embed the right to health at the core of UK law and policy.  Economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to health, must be fully incorporated into UK domestic law and effectively implemented.