WEB TOOL LAUNCHED TO IMPROVE LIFE EXPECTANCY IN DISADVANTAGED AREAS

Thursday 23^rd August 2007

Dawn Primarolo, Minister of State for Public Health today launched the Health Inequalities Intervention Tool - an interactive website to help local health services and councils improve life expectancy in areas with the worst health and deprivation.

The tool is designed to help Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), Practice-Based Commissioners and local authorities in Spearhead areas to understand the impact of simple, effective, evidence-based measures can have on the life expectancy gap of their local populations. It can be used as part of a comprehensive local strategy to reduce health inequalities

It presents both a national and local picture, showing current life expectancy for each of the 70 Spearhead areas, and the gap between life expectancy in the Spearhead area and that for the rest of England.

Dawn Primarolo, Public Health Minister said:

“Tackling health inequalities is a priority for the Department of Health and the NHS. We have set targets that need to be achieved by 2010, including a 10% reduction in the difference in life expectancy at birth between the fifth of areas with the worst health and deprivation and England as a whole.

“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.”

The tool shows the diseases which are causing low life expectancy in each Spearhead area and provides a “ready reckoner” for the high impact interventions that will help narrow the local gap quickly, based on real data. These are:

· Smoking cessation

· Reducing infant deaths

· Antihypertensive prescribing for people whose cardiovascular disease has not yet been diagnosed

· Statin prescribing for people whose cardiovascular disease has not yet been diagnosed.

The tool also assists PCTs in “case finding” by calculating the number of people locally who are likely to need treatment for cardiovascular disease.. Encouraging those people to present to their GPs or other health services will have a significant impact on their life expectancy, and on the average life expectancy within their locality.

Life expectancy is a key element of the Department of Health’s Health Inequalities Public Service Agreement (PSA) target: “By 2010 to reduce health inequalities by 10%, as measured by infant mortality and life expectancy.”

Whilst life expectancy is improving everywhere, the gap between that in the Spearhead areas and that of the population as a whole continues to widen. The average life expectancy in England (as at 2003-05) is 76.9 years for men and 81.1 years for women. However, in Spearhead areas (as at 2003-05) it is 74.9 for men and 79.6 for women. But some Spearhead areas are making progress, with some three-fifths on track to narrow their own life expectancy with England by 10% by 2010 compared to baseline for either males or females or both.

Dr Bobbie Jacobson, Vice-chair of the Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO) and Director of the London Health Observatory said:

"Our tool is the first of its kind to provide hard-edged, local evidence to planners and commissioners, on the causes of their life expectancy gap and how it can be reduced. 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."