"Shocking" inequalities which put our region more at risk from Covid-19 are a "point of national shame", a North East doctor says.
The region has a higher infection rate than any other parts of the country, and in many areas has seen a disproportionate number of deaths.
Dr George Rae, North East regional chair for the British Medical Association, on Monday penned an open letter, calling on Government to tackle the growing gap in healthy life expectancy between parts of the North and more affluent regions in the South.
The discrepancy was highlighted in the Black Report in 1980, in 2010's Marmot Review, and this year in an update to that review which showed in some areas, life expectancy had actually fallen.
Now, Dr Rae said, the Covid-19 pandemic has "put a spotlight" on a problem that successive Governments have failed to solve.
Between March 1 and April 17, across England and Wales, there were 36.2 deaths recorded from coronavirus per 100,000 people. But in Middlesbrough, the rate more than doubled, to 79 deaths per 100,000 people.
Meanwhile there were 62.8 deaths from the virus for every 100,000 people in Sunderland.
As a region, the North East also has the highest rate of infection in the country, with 270 cases per 100,000 people.
And a report from the Centre for Progressive Policy named Gateshead one of the five most dangerous places in the country for coronavirus, taking into account population health, care quality, and the usual rate of deaths from treatable conditions. Other parts of the North East are in a better position, but still rank low compared to other areas.
Of 343 local authorities in England, Sunderland ranked at number 11 for coronavirus vulnerability, South Tyneside at 12, Northumberland at 30, Newcastle at 34, and County Durham at 38. Only North Tyneside in our region was not listed among the 50 most at-risk areas.
By contrast, of the top 20 places deemed to have the greatest risk, just one - Luton - is in the south.
Dr Rae, who practices as a GP in Whitley Bay, said the Government should commit to clear targets for improvements in these inequalities, reporting back to the public just as they do on issues like waiting times. And he said more Government policy, from transport to education, must be tied to health to ensure improvements in healthy life expectancy for our region.
He told ChronicleLive: "The Government really needs to take some definitive action to bring the levels of health in deprived areas in places like Middlesbrough and Gateshead up to the level of health enjoyed by people living in more affluent areas in the South.
"The pandemic has really put a spotlight and a focus on what is happening in deprived areas already. Local authorities are aware of this, and they are trying their best, but they've had their funding cut back over the last ten years.
"The action from the government has been really unacceptable, it's almost shocking, and even more so when you realise this has been pointed out to them for 40 years. Now a virus has pointed it out again: if you're living in a deprived area you can have more co-morbidities, you may not be able to work from home because of the job you have, and you have less of a chance with the virus.
"This is shocking, it's unfair, it's unjust."
A Government spokesperson said: “Any death from this disease is a tragedy and we are working incredibly hard, day and night, to protect the nation’s public health.
“We have commissioned urgent work from Public Health England to understand the different factors that may influence the way someone is affected by this virus. We will set out full details in due course.
“We are ensuring financial support for the poorest in society by increasing Universal Credit payments and speeding up the payment of Statutory Sick pay, as well as introducing the Coronavirus job retention scheme, the Self-employment Income Support Scheme, mortgage holidays and greater protection for renters.”
