While Britain, like much of the rest of the world, has been hit with one health crisis after another including COVID-19, backlogs in health and social care, and overwhelmed emergency rooms, there looms a mysterious pattern that experts cannot explain. Over the past decade, Britons have experienced a rash of early deaths with perhaps 250,000 people dying younger than expected.

According to The Economist, that is the number of extra deaths Britain has suffered, compared to similar countries such as France and Denmark. Compared to other rich European countries, in terms of life expectancy, Britain is the last among a group of 12 of its peers. While life expectancy, as in almost all other affluent countries, rose for two centuries, something went wrong in 2010.

Life expectancy at birth today is 81, just eight weeks longer than it was in 2011. In keeping with the pace of increased life expectancy, that figure should be 83 years of age, meaning thousands of people died sooner than expected. And death rates did not only rise among the elderly, says The Economist, the young and middle-aged were affected. But while life expectancy rose in the richest, it fell in the poorest.

A poor English girl could on average live 7.7 fewer years than a more affluent girl in 2017. For boys, the gap is 9.5 years. After factoring out deaths from COVID-19, statisticians say that the nation had 250,000 unexplained deaths in the past decade, and while the evidence isn’t conclusive, the finger points to poverty and the health deprivation that comes with it.

The early deaths are not due to the tragedy of drugs that has plagued America and Scotland. And while the struggles of the National Health Service with long hospital waits and a crisis in primary care treatment have played their role, delays in medical care can’t explain all the extra deaths. It appears that the answer to the mystery may lie in economic circumstances and the lack of access to education and diagnostic tools.

Poorer Britons are 20% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at a later stage, so having more diagnostic centers would be helpful. Prescribing statins drugs for those at risk of heart disease and stroke may cut early mortality. The Economist suggests adding more public health programs to educate people about the hazards of smoking and obesity. Raising the standards of living among the poor may help solve their lower life expectancy. Some suggestions would be better home insulation and more nutritious food.

“The government should also recognize the role that deprivation plays in health,” says The Economist. “Reweighing funding formulas to benefit general practitioners in the poorest areas would be a good idea. They care for 10% more patients than practices in the riches areas but receive 7% less cash.

“In its COVID-19 response, Britain went to extraordinary lengths to prevent its citizens from suffering an early death. The pandemic may be over, but that job is nowhere near complete.”