By Lucy Ashton
Jackie Baillie has branded Scotland’s record health inequalities a “national scandal” and called on new First Minister Humza Yousaf to make tackling the issue a priority.
A new Scottish Government report on Health Inequalities has found that on a number of indicators health inequalities are at their worst point on record.
For healthy life expectancy, premature mortality, coronary heart disease deaths, and cancer incidence the gap in outcomes between the best and worst off is at its largest point since the time series began in 1997.
On other measures the gap remains stubbornly large, with little or no progress being made.
West Dunbartonshire remains an area of multiple deprivation and is impacted by some of the worst statistics.
Jackie Baillie, Dumbarton constituency MSP and Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson, pictured right, said: “Scotland’s health inequalities are nothing short of a national scandal and people in the most deprived communities, some of which are in my Dumbarton constituency are worst affected. This is the result of years of failure under the SNP, with yet more shameful records being set on their watch.
“The most deprived communities in Scotland are paying the harshest price for the chaos the SNP’s disastrous mismanagement of our NHS. This is all happening while the government’s own targets for A&E waits are not being met locally.
“These inequalities are costing lives and new First Minister Humza Yousaf must make it a priority to tackle this.”
Long-term Monitoring of Health Inequalities:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/long-term-monitoring-health-inequalities-march-2023-report/
Healthy life expectancy (HLE)
The RII – Relative Index of Inequality – has increased to its highest level since the start of the time series for both males and females, increasing from 0.38 to 0.47 for males and from 0.36 to 0.45 for females between 2013-2015 and 2019-2021.The absolute gap in HLE has also increased since the start of the time series for males and females. For males it has increased from 22.5 years in 2013-2015 to 25.8 years in 2019-2021. For females it has increased from 23.8 years in 2013- 2015 to 25.7 years in 2019-2021, the largest gap in the time series.
Premature Mortality (aged under 75 years)
The RII has increased over the long term and is now at the highest point in the time series (1.56 in 2021 compared to 1.00 in 1997).
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) deaths (aged 45-74 years)
The RII for CHD deaths has increased over the long term and is now at the highest point in the time series (1.75 in 2021). The absolute gap in CHD deaths in 2021 was lower than at the start of the time series (222.6 per 100,000 in 2021 compared to 347.3 per 100,000 in 1997) but is the highest figure since 2009.
Cancer incidence (aged under 75 years)
The RII for cancer incidence has remained fairly stable over time, ranging from 0.29 to 0.42. In 2021, the RII was 0.42, the highest figure in the time series
Cancer deaths (aged 45-74 years)
The RII for cancer deaths has increased over time and the figure in 2021 (0.98) was the second highest recorded in the time series.