FOCUS ON ROOT CAUSE OF POVERTY TO IMPROVE INVERCLYDE LIFE EXPECTANCY- FINNIE

Written by Ross Finnie on Thu 24th Sep 2009

FOCUS ON ROOT CAUSE OF POVERTY TO IMPROVE INVERCLYDE LIFE EXPECTANCY- FINNIE

West of Scotland Liberal Democrat MSP Ross Finnie has called on Ministers to prioritise closing the health gap to tackle Inverclyde's low rate of life expectancy.

Figures from the General Register Office for Scotland show that whilst overall life expectancy at birth for people in Scotland has improved over the last 10 years, life expectancy across Scotland varied considerably. In Inverclyde the life expectancy at birth is 75.8 years compared to the Scottish average of 77.5 years.

The figures also found that Scottish men and women continue to have amongst the lowest life expectancy at birth in Europe only the Eastern European states which joined the European Union (EU) on the 1st of May 2004 and the 1st of January 2007 have lower figures.

Commenting Mr Finnie said:

"These figures show that people from Inverclyde have the third lowest life expectancy rate in Scotland.

"Poverty and deprivation continue to blight the life chances of too many people in Inverclyde.

"The answer to increasing life expectancy is for the SNP Government to tackle the root causes of poverty and close the health gap. These policies lie at the heart of the Liberal Democrat commitment to fairness."

Ends

Notes to Editors

Figures found on the General Register Office for Scotland Life expectancy for Administrative Areas within Scotland 2006-08

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/life-expectancy/life-expectancy-admin-areas-scotland-06-08/index.html