Sector bodies have called on the government to make better use of community pharmacies after new statistics highlighted “unacceptable health inequalities” across the country.
According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this week, there were 110,804 avoidable deaths in England in 2025 - more than a fifth of the country’s total registered deaths.
The report showed that men in the country’s most deprived areas were 3.8 times more likely to die from avoidable causes than men in the least deprived areas.
Read more: CCA: Pharmacy smoking cessation services ‘disjointed and confused’
Similarly, the avoidable death rate among women was 3.4 times higher in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived.
The ONS said the leading cause of avoidable deaths was tumours, followed by diseases of the circulatory system.
And while England’s avoidable mortality rate hit a new record low in 2025, 64% of the deaths “could be attributed to conditions considered preventable”, it added.
Protect “vital” services
Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck told C+D that the figures are “deeply concerning and highlight the unacceptable health inequalities that persist across our country”.
“Nobody’s chances of living a long and healthy life should be determined by their postcode or how deprived their community is,” she added.
Hannbeck said pharmacies “have a vital role to play in preventing avoidable illness and deaths” and provide “accessible healthcare” in the community, from blood pressure checks and early detection of cardiovascular risks to smoking cessation and support with long-term conditions.
Read more: CVD screening through pharmacies helps identify at-risk patients
“Yet pharmacies in some of our most deprived communities are facing the greatest financial pressures and risk of closure, threatening access to the very services that could help tackle these inequalities,” she stressed.
“If the government is serious about reducing health inequalities and shifting care into the community, it must properly fund and empower community pharmacies on high streets up and down the country,” Hannbeck said.
“Protecting these vital local services is essential to ensuring that everyone, regardless of where they live, has access to the healthcare they need.”
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And Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive Malcolm Harrison said “people living in more deprived areas often face a greater risk of poor health, with increased rates of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, obesity and physical inactivity”.
“Community pharmacies are well placed to help tackle these inequalities,” he told C+D.
“There are more pharmacies in deprived areas, where healthcare needs are often the greatest.”
Read more: Pharmacy services are NHS ‘blind spot’ in rural areas, report warns
Harrison added that pharmacies “already offer a range of services which prevent and address ill health, but there is the potential for them to do more”.
He highlighted the government’s new modern service framework for cardiovascular disease as “an important opportunity to improve prevention and treatment” and said community pharmacies “should play a central role in this”.
“Making better use of community pharmacy could help identify more people at risk, tackle health inequalities and prevent avoidable deaths,” he said.
Read more: Pharmacies offer cholesterol-lowering jabs in London pilot
It comes after a CCA report found that pharmacy-led smoking cessation services are “disjointed and confused” despite community pharmacies being “ideally placed” to support people in quitting.
The body warned that the government’s goal of a smoke-free future is currently “unlikely to be met”, and recommended a “funded three-tier model” enabling community pharmacies to play a bigger role alongside existing smoking cessation services.
