DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release (2007/0299) issued by The Government News Network on 22
October 2007
Life expectancy is
at the highest level ever, deaths from cancer, heart disease and
stroke are falling, and infant mortality is at its lowest level
ever according to the Health Profile of England 2007, published
today by the Department of Health.
This year's Health Profile shows ongoing improvements such as:
* Increasing life expectancy, now at its highest ever level
* Mortality rates from cancers and circulatory diseases are declining
* Infant mortality has reduced and is now at its lowest ever level
* The number of people smoking is decreasing and the number of
smoking attributable deaths is decreasing
* The quality of housing stock, an important health determinant,
is improving
The Profile contains international comparisons and compares the
health of England to that of the European Union:
* Early death from the two biggest killers, circulatory disease
and cancer are reducing faster in England than the average for the EU
* Deaths from motor vehicle traffic accidents in the UK are
amongst the lowest in the EU
Whilst the statistics show that there has been ongoing
improvement in many aspects of the nation's health, the
Health Profile also shows that there are some issues where
progress is slow. Regional health inequalities still exist, and
rates of obesity, diabetes and alcohol related hospital admissions
are rising.
In comparison to the EU - 15, the prevalence of obesity in
England is the highest. Deaths from chronic liver disease and
cirrhosis have risen markedly, and England has risen above the
EU-15 average. Despite declining teenage pregnancy rates, the UK
also has the highest proportion of births to under 20s compared to
other Western European countries.
Public Health Minister, Dawn Primarolo, said:
"This report shows that mortality rates from cancers,
circulatory diseases and suicides are declining. Infant mortality
has reduced and is now at its lowest ever level.
"But there is still a lot to do in tackling health
inequalities. To address this we have already announced major
improvements to GP services across the country - greater
flexibility in opening times, and over 100 new GP practices in the
25% of PCTs with the poorest provision
"Whilst we have made good progress in stopping people
smoking, I am determined to move further and faster to respond to
all these challenges - with a cross government drive to tackle
obesity, improve diet and activity levels and promote safe and
sensible drinking."
"This country is already regarded as leading the way in key
elements in the fight to tackle obesity, for example our approach
on food labelling, restricting advertising to children and
evidence collected through the foresight report.
"With new resources from the CSR we are planning a
long-term, cross government drive for action on obesity. Our
ambition is to reverse the rising tide of obesity and overweight
in the population, by enabling everyone to achieve and maintain a
healthy weight. Our initial focus will be on children: By 2020,
we aim to reduce the proportion of overweight and obese children
to 2000 levels.
This June we launched the Safe. Sensible. Social - the next steps
in the National Alcohol Strategy. We have already cut alcohol
violence and disorder and put in place: a new public information
campaign to promote sensible drinking; an independent review of
alcohol pricing and promotion; toughened enforcement of underage
sales by retailers; and are planning to introduce more help for
people who want to drink less.
Smoking is the single biggest cause of health inequality. We have
introduced a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, introduced
smokefree in public places, and only this month raised the age of
sale of tobacco products from 16-18 years. In 2008, hard hitting
picture warnings will be required on all tobacco products produced
for the UK market from 1 October 2008.
And commenting on the international comparison, Public Health
Minister, Dawn Primarolo, said:
"We are improving much faster in areas such as circulatory
disease and cancer than the European average and delivering better
treatment to more people than ever before, saving thousands of lives.
"But we know there is much more to do. Lord Darzi's
review of the NHS sets out a vision for a world class health
service that is safer, personalised, fairer and more effective.
"The second stage of the review will see 72 clinical
champions lead taskforces across the country. They will recommend
how to further improve healthcare in their local areas based on
clinical evidence, best practice and the views of staff and patients."
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. The Health Profile of England can be found at :
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_079716
2. EU-15 is the EU countries who were members prior to 2004