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Where you live in Britain influences both your risk of developing lung disease as well as your survival chances. Pulmonary fibrosis is a telling example of this inequality – people living in the most deprived communities die from this progressive, terminal lung disease at rates over a third higher than those in the least deprived areas. 1

The Prime Minister has pledged to improve outcomes for everyone in every postcode. Pulmonary fibrosis highlights the disparity that this commitment needs to address.

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Shankar R et al. Assessment of the impact of social deprivation, distance to hospital and time to diagnosis on survival in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Respir Med. 2024;227. ↩︎

Public Health England. The 2nd Atlas of variation in risk factors and healthcare for respiratory disease in England. Sept 2019. ↩︎

Department of Health & Social Care. Fingertips Public health profiles 2023-2025. ↩︎

Gonnelli F et al.…