Website targets health inequalities
The tool is aimed at saving local authorities' time
Friday, 24, Aug 2007 08:00
A website has been launched which aims to reduce the inequalities in life expectancy in England.
The new tool is designed to help the government reach its target of reducing the difference in life expectancy between the most deprived areas and England as a whole by ten per cent.
It provides local health services in areas which have a lower expectancy – known as spearhead areas – with measures which have been proved to improve people's longevity.
In England the average life expectancy is 76.9 years for men and 81.1 years for women.
But in some spearhead areas it is 74.9 for men and 79.6 for women.
Diseases which lower life expectancy in each spearhead area are shown on the site alongside interventions that could help to reduce disease incidence rates.
Public health minister Dawn Primarolo said that reducing health inequalities is a "priority" for the Department of Health.
"We have set targets… our task now is to support local NHS and local authority service planners, commissioners and front-line staff to deliver on those targets and this is an excellent example of giving staff in spearhead areas the tools to do the job and to do it well," she added.
Dr Bobbie Jacobson, vice-chair of the Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) and director of the London Health Observatory commented: "The tool is easy to use and saves local agencies' time and analytical effort.
"More importantly, we hope it will help spearhead authorities to close the gap."