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Healthy life expectancy
16/12/2008
Statistics published today show the healthy life expectancy for people in Scotland.
Life expectancy (LE) estimates how many years a person might be expected to live. Healthy life expectancy (HLE) is an estimate of how many years they might live in 'good' health.
Key findings:
- Both LE and HLE are lower (worse) in Scotland than in the UK as a whole
- Both LE and HLE at birth in Scotland have improved over recent years, but the gap between them (the years expected to be spent in 'not good' health) has also increased
- There are considerable variations in LE and HLE in Scotland between males and females and among different geographical and socio-economic groups
Public Health Minister Shona Robison said:
"While health in Scotland is improving - through actions addressing issues such as smoking, poor diet and physical activity - it is not happening quickly enough and there are still unacceptable inequalities which blight the lives of those from our most deprived communities.
"In a modern Scotland, it is scandalous that children can be condemned to a life of poverty, misery and hardship, simply because of where they were born or their family's circumstances.
"We are committed to tackling this and make a lasting difference. To do this, joined up working is crucial as is a focus on the vital early years of a child's life.
"That is what Equally Well, the report of the Ministerial Task Force on Health Inequalities, is designed to achieve by radically redesigning the way public services are delivered.
"What is different about the approach we are proposing is that it will shift the emphasis from dealing with the consequences of health inequalities to tackling the underlying causes. Poor health is not inevitable and we should not accept that it is."