Researchers from the University of Leicester led a two-year project funded by the NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Research and Care for Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland into why differences in death rates from diseases like heart disease, strokes, lung disease and cancers still persist. The research, published in PLOS ONE, found that age and poverty were among the biggest factors that accounted for the differences – but they also discovered that effective delivery of healthcare could lessen the impact of these health inequalities.