Men most at risk of dying from drugs, alcohol or suicide in Scotland are a “policy blind spot”, according to health economics researchers.

In her article Young men's deaths of despair overlooked in policy, Esme Pringle draws attention to some startling facts revealed in the Scottish Health Equity Research Unit (SHERU) 2025 annual review of health and socio-economic inequality in Scotland.

The review found that persistent and, in some places deepening, structural inequalities continue to drive poor health.

While the health impacts of deindustrialisation, privatisation and austerity on a subset of men aged 18 to 44 are of concern, the review suggests this group are at a much higher risk of being in poor quality or precarious work, experiencing homelessness or becoming incarcerated.

These men are most likely to ‘die by despair’, from drugs, alcohol or suicide, with support from services often coming at times of crises when it could be too late to make a difference.

As a result, the team based at Strathclyde University say these men are often hidden in the statistics. Young men's deaths of despair overlooked in policy,

The researchers say evidence from Ireland and Iceland, which have successfully reduced rates of suicides and alcohol and drugs harm in young people respectively, shows what is possible when national coordination, data and local delivery align.