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37 comments on Another book for the shelf

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Twilight on December 12, 2005 - 3:32pm Permalink | Subthread | Comments top
I have seen that 50,000 deaths number several times now.  I would like to know more about how it was determined, and how it compares to other places.  I could believe it if it can be backed up, but it seems fantastically high - kinda sets off my suspicion alarm.  Could a modern industrial society like the UK really be putting up with this kind of mortality rate on an annual basis - it boggles the mind!
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JN2 on December 12, 2005 - 4:50pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
Could a modern industrial society like the UK really be putting up with this kind of mortality rate on an annual basis?

Well, for comparison, a modern industrial society like the USA puts up with about 50,000 MVA deaths per year (Motor Vehicle Accidents). Albeit with six times the population of the UK. That's about 135 MVA deaths per day.

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PhilM on December 13, 2005 - 12:19pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
A pointless correction maybe...UK populaton just over 60 million..US population just under 300 million I think.
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Leanan on December 13, 2005 - 12:33pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
I'm curious about that, too.  I don't think I've heard that particular number, but I've heard several times that a lot of people freeze to death in the winter in the UK because they can't pay their bills.  Why would that be?  It's not a big problem in the US, and we offer a lot less of a social safety net than the UK.
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fallout on December 13, 2005 - 12:37pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
On average, it is colder in the UK than in the US.  That's not necessarily a statistic, just my opinion from having lived in both places.  It is also more damp, and the housing stock, on average, is significantly older.
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Twilight on December 13, 2005 - 2:38pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
So is there any consensus that this is a realistic number?
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dp1 on December 13, 2005 - 3:25pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top
The anecdotal evidence Nick Rouse gives below (old housing combined with lots of archaic and hard-to-maintain coal heat) seems plausible.  

I also agree that the 50,000 upper-bound excess mortality rate in the winter is foolish to ascribe entirely to hypothermia.  As just one example, in the US 30,000+ people (mostly elderly) die of the flu every year, so scaling to the UK that would be about 6,000 from flu alone, the great majority of them in the winter.

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