One in five adults in England will be living with a major disease by 2040, finds report

More than nine million adults in England will be living with major illness by 2040—equivalent to one in five—according to a report by the Health Foundation.1

The analysis, which is part of a four year project led by the Health Foundation’s Real Centre in partnership with the University of Liverpool, has estimated that ill health in the adult population will rise by 2.5 million in the two decades from 2019.

Prevalence is expected to increase for 19 of the 20 health conditions studied by the researchers, including a rise of more than 30% in people living with cancer, diabetes, or kidney disease. This will have significant implications for the NHS and other public services, as well as the economy, the researchers warned.

Real Centre director Anita Charlesworth said, “Over …