BRITAIN IS SICK MAN OF EUROPE

Health measures call to fix economy

- MARTIN BAGOT

MILLIONS going off work due to ill health mean the UK is "the literal sick man of Europe", according to a review.

If trends continue, inactivity due to sickness could hit 4.3 million by the end of this parliament, up from 2.8 million today.

The three-year cross-party Commission on Health and Prosperity was chaired by top surgeon Lord Ara Darzi and former Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies.

The UK came sixth out of the G7 nations for health measures including life expectancy, avoidable deaths and obesity - with only the US faring worse, the commission for the Institute for Public Policy Research found.