Austerity programmes are causing a public health disaster across Europe and North America, experts warn.
They highlight a death toll attributed to political decisions in response to recession. But they maintain the gulf in outcome between Iceland and Greece shows suffering and misery are not inevitable.
Political economist David Stuckler of Oxford University and physician-epidemiologist Sanjay Basu of Stanford University in California will this month publish The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills.
They have looked at public health statistics from several economic downturns to draw lessons for how we deal with the recession. They estimate there have been 10,000 additional suicides and one million extra cases of depression across Europe and North America in the recession since the credit crunch. In Greece, there has been an extreme collapse in health.
HIV cases have trebled, with a 50% youth unemployment rate resulting in a big rise in injected drug use.
Malaria has broken out for the first time in decades and charity health clinics for immigrants have been flooded with Greek citizens as 35,000 doctors and other health staff have lost their jobs.
Dr Stuckler said: "Austerity is having a devastating effect on health in Europe and North America.
"The harms we have found include HIV and malaria outbreaks, shortages of essential medicines, lost healthcare access and an avoidable epidemic of alcohol abuse, depression and suicide, among others.
"Our politicians need to take into account the serious and, in some cases, profound health consequences of economic choices. But so far, Europe's leaders have been in denial of the evidence that austerity is costing lives."
But Iceland's response to the financial crisis demonstrates other options are possible.
The authors argue: "Since 2008, Icelandic men have experienced no significant rise in depressive disorders, despite the country experiencing the largest banking crisis in world history, due to specific government decisions to avoid austerity.
"Rather than crippling the economy, Iceland's decision to avoid austerity resulted in faster economic recovery."
Dr Basu said: "Worsening health is not an inevitable consequence of economic recessions. It's a political choice. Austerity is bad for your health – but there is another way: a new New Deal could work to improve economies and our nations' health."
Dr Stuckler said the UK Coalition Government was presiding over rising long-term unemployment and growing homelessness, with the number of rough sleepers in London even leading to a TB outbreak.
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