PEOPLE in affluent areas of Wales can expect to live more than five years longer than those in the poorest regions – and the gap is growing, according to new figures.

Comprehensive data released by the Assembly Government this week shows that men in Ceredigion can expect to live almost six years longer than those in Merthyr Tydfil.

The figures have led to calls for urgent action to close the gap, with Wales’ chief medial officer Tony Jewell admitting: “The statistics show clearly the link between our industrial heritage, deprivation, ill-health and a lower life expectancy in some parts of Wales.”

According to the statistics released this week male life expectancy in the affluent, mainly rural West Wales authority is 80.7 years, compared with 74.9 in Merthyr – a gap of 5.8 years.

Figures for women paint a similar picture, with Ceredigion also topping the table. Baby girls born there today can expect to live to the age of 84.2 – two and a half years more than the UK average.

But in Blaenau Gwent, the home of NHS pioneer Aneurin Bevan, women can expect to live to the age of just 78.8 years – a gap of 5.2 years.

Local AM Trish Law said: “It does disappoint me that Blaenau Gwent often tops the table for all the wrong reasons – in this case life expectancy among women.

“It is, to my mind, the inevitable consequence of a combination of factors – poor housing, poor health, and the very high rate of unemployment in Blaenau Gwent, for being out of work affects people’s lifestyles.

“The only comfort to be derived from these figures is that they are marginally better than they were a couple of decades ago.

“That might well be to do with the environmental landscape, which has changed for the better in Blaenau Gwent with closures in the mining and steel industries."

Monmouthshire, Powys and the Vale of Glamorgan were also close to the top of the newborn life expectancy table, while Rhondda Cynon Taf, Caerphilly, Neath Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire were among the areas where the figure falls below the Welsh average, which is 77 for men and 81.4 for women.

The gap between the areas with highest and lowest average life expectancy has almost doubled over the past two decades.

Figures covering the period between 1991 and 1993 show the gulf between highest and lowest average male life expectancy was 3.6 years, while for women it was 2.9.

Liberal Democrat AM Peter Black said: “It should not be the case in this day and age that those who are richer live longer.

“We know that there are lifestyle issues that can have an impact on health which are linked to income, such as the ability to be able to afford better quality food and to heat your home in old age.

“But what is not clear is what is being done to tackle this. The problem has been getting worse under Labour and the gap between the richest and poorest within our communities is growing.”

Dr Jewell said much had been done to promote healthy lifestyles across Wales, and in the South Wales Valleys in particular.

“Our focus is to encourage people from a young age to develop good lifestyle habits that they can take into adulthood,” he said.

“That is why we have invested in, among other things, free swimming during school holidays for under-16s and during school terms for the over 60s. It is about making it easier for people to make healthy choices.”

He said other measures, including school breakfast clubs, the Health Challenge Valleys and MEND weight management programmes and the smoking ban would also make a difference in coming years.

Compared to the rest of the UK, Wales fares relatively well, with a better average life expectancy than Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.

www.walesonline.co.uk

05 December 2009