The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Review on ‘tide of ill health’
Anew independent review of health in Scotland over the last two decades is to be carried out – with a key figure in the project saying it could help “stem the tide of avoidable ill health” across the country.
The Health Foundation aims to conduct a detailed analysis of the trends and wider factors that have influenced people’s health in Scotland over the last 20 years.
The charity launched the work amid concerns that Scotland suffers from persistent health inequalities – resulting in those in more deprived areas suffering more ill health than their counterparts in affluent communities.
The pandemic means the situation may have worsened over the last two years.
Scotland currently has the lowest average life expectancy at birth of all four of the UK nations – with this also among the lowest in western Europe.
Meanwhile, the last five years have seen an increase in the difference in life expectancy between the richest and poorest areas.
Earlier this month, National Records of Scotland (NRS) reported that “those living in the most deprived communities spend on average 24 years fewer in good health than those living in the least deprived areas”.
It added: “With those in the most deprived areas also dying younger, they spend more than one-third of their lives in poor health.”
That comes after NRS reported life expectancy at birth in Scotland had fallen to 76.8 years for males and 81.0 years for females. The Health Foundation recently reported that smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and harmful alcohol use are leading risk factors “driving the UK’s high burden of preventable ill health” – with a call for more action to tackle these issues.
David Finch, assistant director of healthy lives at the Health Foundation, said: “Covid-19 has shone a spotlight on the tragic consequences of widespread ill health in Scotland. However, health had already been in decline prior to the pandemic with improvements in life expectancy stalled, and even reversed in some parts of the country.”
Chris Creegan, chairman of the review’s expert advisory group, said: “This review is timely and crucial if we are to stem the tide of avoidable ill health in Scotland and reverse it.”