YOU’RE TWICE AS LIKELY TO DIE THAN THE RICH
BLEAK PANDEMIC REPORT WARNS THE PAISLEY FAMILIES WHO ARE WAGING WAR ON POVERTY...
Hard- up families in Paisley’s Ferguslie Park have been left sickened by stats showing they are TWICE as likely to die in the current pandemic than the rich. A new report shows those living in the community, as well as Gallowhill and Foxbar, are 2.3 times more likely not to survive the deadly Covid-19 outbreak than those in affluent neighburhoods.
Community activist John McIntyre, who was born and raised in Ferguslie Park, last night said it was time these bleak reports led to action being taken to support poverty-hit families.
He told the Paisley Daily Express “I am really angry. In amongst these figures are people and families that are devastated by loss.
“It is not only heartbreaking but frustrating because we know if there were more services made available things could be different.”
Speaking days after the Express revealed Renfrewshire is one of the regions hardest hit by coronavirus in Scotland, John insisted the death tolls in highly-deprived areas was a “national disgrace”.
“Your health and wellbeing should not be decided on your postcode,” he said.
“I have lived through some of the worst times in Ferguslie Park. I have seen people dying long before their time.
“And we have seen reports like this before. In the 1980s a report was produced showing the life expectancy in Ferguslie Park being really low. In another 40 years will there be another report like this?
“The people of Ferguslie Park can’t wait that long. We need action now.”
People living in places such as Ferguslie Park, Gallowhill and Foxbar are more than twice as likely to die from coronavirus than those in affluent areas, shock new figures reveal.
Official statistics from the National Records of Scotland show people are 2.3 times more likely to die from the virus if they have a postcode in an area of high deprivation.
The rate of deaths involving Covid- 19 in the most deprived areas is 86.5 per 100,000 population, more than double that in the least deprived areas where it is 38.2 per 100,000.
Tragically, huge swathes of Paisley and its surrounding communities are among the most deprived in the country.
And with 160 Covid-19 deaths to date, Renfrewshire is already one of the hardest hit regions in Scotland.
The situation has been described as “disgraceful” by anti-poverty campaigner Terry McTernan.
A resident of Ferguslie Park, Terry said while much has been done to improve the area, more is needed to address the shocking health inequality that remains.
Terry, secretary of the Ferguslie Park Community Council, said: “These figures are dreadful.
“Mental health, isolation and loneliness, fuel poverty, food insecurity and the environment are five leading causes of health inequality and that is why they have been the focus of the subsidiaries of the community council for some time now.
“These are issues we have been complaining about for a long, long time.”
The community council, in partnership with a number of other organisations, launched its own emergency helpline to support residents of Ferguslie Park throughout the pandemic.
It has delivered food parcels to people, topped up electricity meters and called lonely and isolated people on a daily basis.
Terry added: “The physical regeneration of Ferguslie Park has been quite successful but the health and social regeneration required has just not taken place.
“When this is all over the onus is on us to continue this engagement with the community so we can support people properly in the long term.
“These disgusting figures only reaffirm what we have been saying in
Ferguslie for years - that you need to empower communities to overcome these problems.”
The statistics come a week after Neil Bibby MSP demanded answers from the Scottish Government as to why Renfrewshire has been so badly hit by Covid-19.
The Express revealed last week that the county has seen more fatalities than Australia.
Mr Bibby, West Scotland MSP, said: “These figures sadly confirm what we already feared - that coronavirus does not affect us all equally, that there is regional variation and that the poorest people are being hit hardest.
“This crisis has also shown that, too often, the workers on the frontline against this virus are overstretched and underpaid.
“There has to be an open
community- wide, cross- party discussion about how we target resources towards those areas with the greatest economic and social need, how to address persistent health inequalities and how we create better paid, secure jobs in the recovery from this crisis.”
The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation has long highlighted the sky-high levels of poverty across Renfrewshire.
It ranks nearly 7,000 small areas - known as data zones - throughout Scotland by shining a light on income, employment, health, education, access to services, crime and housing.
Twenty- four per cent of Renfrewshire’s data zones are among the 20 per cent most deprived in the country.
Mhairi Black MP said: “It is not surprising, thought it is of course upsetting, that the poorest are more likely to die from the virus.
“This is a global trend and isn’t just the case with Covid-19. Those in poverty are already more likely to die from cancer, heart failure, lung disease and a variety of other diseases.
“Since the Covid-19 pandemic began I have been contacted by hundreds of constituents that are from typically poorer areas of the constituency that have a variety of issues due to the poverty inflicted on them.
“The UK Government has already inflicted a decade of austerity on Renfrewshire, and the impacts are far more wide ranging than just on people’s bank accounts.
“What we need to make sure happens now is that people get the support they need and only then will we see statistics like these begin to change.”