How healthcare varies around the world

Women's health charities & advocacy organisations The Gender Health Gap: How Long Women Wait for a Diagnosis How UK health systems diagnose women more slowly and less accurately than men — shown through endometriosis diagnosis times and heart-attack misdiagnosis, with sources. Read the study → Maternity, birth & new-parent charities Maternal Mortality and Ethnicity: The UK's Persistent Gap Black women in the UK have for years been several times more likely to die in pregnancy and childbirth than white women — a gap driven by care, not biology. With sources. Read the study → Menopause support & midlife women's health organisations The Menopause Support Gap: What the Workplace Data Shows 1 in 10 UK women aged 45–55 have left a job because of menopause symptoms, and 8 in 10 say their employer offers no support. With sources. Read the study → Down's syndrome charities & organisations People with Down's Syndrome: Longer Lives, but a Persistent Health Gap Life expectancy for people with Down's syndrome has risen from about 25 to about 60 — yet avoidable-mortality and access gaps persist. With sources. Read the study → Learning disability charities Dying Younger: The Health Inequality Facing People with a Learning Disability People with a learning disability in England die ~20 years younger than the general population, and 39% of those deaths are judged avoidable. With sources. Read the study → Autism charities & autistic-led organisations The Autism Assessment Backlog: Waiting Years, Not Weeks Nearly 295,000 people in England are waiting for an NHS autism assessment, ~9 in 10 beyond the 13-week guideline, with average waits over 16 months. With sources. Read the study → Disability rights & cross-disability organisations The Disability Health-Access Gap: Priced Out of Care Disabled people in the UK are between 2 and 7+ times more likely to go without healthcare or medication because of cost, transport and waiting lists. With sources. Read the study → Sight loss & hearing loss charities Hearing Loss: 10 Years to Act, and Millions Going Without More than 18 million people in the UK have hearing loss or tinnitus, people wait ~10 years to seek help, and only ~3m of the ~10m who could benefit use hearing aids. With sources. Read the study → Ageing & older people's charities 2 Million Older People Now Have Unmet Care Needs Around 2 million older people in England have some unmet need for social care — nearly 1 in 5, and up from 1.6 million a year earlier. With sources. Read the study → Dementia charities The Dementia Diagnosis Gap: Nearly a Million People, One in Three Undiagnosed An estimated 982,000 people in the UK live with dementia and over a third have no diagnosis, with numbers set to reach 1.6 million by 2050. With sources. Read the study → Children's health & wellbeing charities Tooth Decay: The Leading Reason Young Children Are Admitted to Hospital In England, tooth decay — a preventable condition — is the top cause of hospital admission for 5–9 year olds, with around 70 extractions a day and a steep deprivation gap. With sources. Read the study → Youth & young people's mental health charities 1 in 5: The Rise in Children's Mental Health Problems The share of 8–16 year olds in England with a probable mental disorder has risen from 1 in 9 (2017) to 1 in 5 (2023), with eating disorders rising steeply. With sources. Read the study → Men's health organisations Men's Health: The Life-Expectancy Gap and the Silence Around Suicide Men in the UK die ~4 years earlier than women, and suicide is the leading cause of death for men under 50 — with the male rate barely falling since 1981 as women's almost halved. With sources. Read the study → LGBTQ+ health & equality organisations Avoiding Care: LGBTQ+ People and the Healthcare Discrimination Gap 1 in 7 LGBT people (37% of trans people) have avoided treatment for fear of discrimination, and most trans people say staff don't understand their needs. With sources. Read the study → Migrant & refugee health charities Turned Away: Migrants, NHS Charging and the Registration Barrier Everyone in England can register with a GP regardless of status, yet ~4 in 5 patients at a Doctors of the World clinic were wrongly turned away, and charging deters care. With sources. Read the study → Race equality & ethnic-minority health organisations Detained Four Times More Often: Ethnicity and Mental Health Care Black or Black British people in England are detained under the Mental Health Act at ~4x the rate of white people, and placed on Community Treatment Orders at 8.5x. With sources. Read the study → Carers' organisations The £184 Billion the UK Doesn't Pay For: Unpaid Carers and Their Health The UK's 5.8 million unpaid carers provide care worth ~£184bn a year — more than the NHS budget — and are far more likely to report poor health. With sources. Read the study → Rare disease alliances & patient organisations The Rare-Disease Diagnostic Odyssey: Four Years, Five Doctors, Three Wrong Answers 1 in 17 people in the UK will have a rare condition, and the average diagnosis takes 4 years, 5 doctors and 3 misdiagnoses. With sources. Read the study → Cancer charities & patient support organisations Cancer in the UK: Survival Has Doubled, but Diagnosis Still Lags Ten-year cancer survival in the UK has risen from ~24% to ~50%, yet the 62-day treatment target has been missed for a decade and only half of cancers are found early. With sources. Read the study → Diabetes organisations The Cost of Diabetes: £10bn a Year, and Most of It Preventable The NHS spends ~£10bn a year on diabetes — about 6% of the UK health budget — and ~60% goes on treating complications, with 184 amputations a week. With sources. Read the study → Heart & circulatory health charities Heart and Circulatory Disease: The UK's Biggest Killer, by the Numbers Over 8 million people in the UK live with heart and circulatory disease, which causes ~170,000 deaths a year — more than a quarter of all deaths. With sources. Read the study → Mental health charities The Mental-Health Waiting Gap: Fast for Some, 18 Months for Others People in England are about 8x more likely to wait over 18 months for mental health treatment than for physical health care, even as talking therapies mostly hit targets. With sources. Read the study → Rural community & rural health organisations The Rural Ambulance Gap: Waiting Longer When Minutes Matter People in rural areas wait about 45% longer for the most urgent ambulance calls, and some rural heart-attack patients wait over 1h40m. With sources. Read the study → Poverty & health-inequality organisations The Postcode Gap: How Deprivation Shapes Life Expectancy in England Boys in England's most deprived areas live ~10 years less than those in the least deprived, and the healthy-life-expectancy gap is ~20 years — and widening. With sources. Read the study → Homelessness & inclusion-health organisations Homelessness and Health: Dying 30 Years Early People experiencing homelessness in England and Wales die at around 46 (men) and 43 (women) on average — roughly 30–38 years younger than the general population. With sources. Read the study → Armed forces & veterans' health charities Veterans' Mental Health: 30,000 Referrals to Op COURAGE The NHS's dedicated veterans' mental-health service has had over 30,000 referrals; probable PTSD among veterans has risen to ~11% of ex-serving regulars in 2022–23 research. With sources. Read the study → Reproductive & sexual health organisations The IVF Postcode Lottery: Where Three Cycles Becomes One NICE recommends three NHS IVF cycles, but ~61% of areas in England offer just one and only ~12% offer three — with just 2 of 42 ICBs fully compliant. With sources. Read the study → Student welfare organisations & unions The Student Mental Health Iceberg: 6% Disclose, 57% Struggle Student mental health declarations rose 450% in a decade to 5.8%, but 57% of students self-report a mental health issue and 37% of first-years have moderate-severe symptoms. With sources. Read the study →