Nearly 300k more people in England may die over the next decade as a result of the US UK trade deal

US-UK drug deal could result in 229,000 excess deaths in England, analysis suggests.

This is because the deal entails us having to pay 25% more for drugs than we do at present for the next decade at least. Ergo the NHS is to divert a cumulative £45 billion (!!) over 10 years from other essential services to do so.

This means that:

Reduced NHS spending on services will have an adverse effect on the nation’s public health, the analysis found, causing 229,000 excess deaths by 2036

For context:

The estimated avoidable death toll is larger than the number that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, between March 2020 and June 2022 (137,000)

The deaths include yet further to an estimated 291,000 if one includes indirect deaths due to changes in adult social care, which of course we should.