Killer heart diseases continue to prey on Lothians' poorest

Published on Tuesday 29 April 2008 13:36

HEART disease death rates are falling throughout Scotland's most deprived areas – except in the Lothians.

A total of 211 people died in the poorest parts of the Lothians from coronary heart problems between 2004 and 2006, one more than in 2003 to 2005. The death rate also rose slightly to 112.8 per 100,000 people, although this was still below the Scottish average.

Other areas, such as Greater Glasgow & Clyde, Fife and Lanarkshire, have all seen significant falls. The British Heart Foundation said part of the reason for the lack of progress was that these areas all had higher heart disease death rates in their most deprived wards to start with.

However, Grampian made significant progress from an already lower death rate – reducing it from 98.6 to 88.9 – and the BHF urged NHS Lothian to take note of successes elsewhere.

Ben McKendrick, policy and public affairs manager for BHF Scotland, said: "Lothian started at a much better place, with a death rate that was already lower than the Scottish average. However, lessons need to be learned from improvements seen elsewhere."

He added: "Our argument has always been that as death rates are higher in deprived areas, resources and initiatives need to be targeted there. Heart disease is a problem in deprived areas for a combination of factors – people are more likely to smoke, are less physically active, less likely to have a healthy diet and less likely to get the health services they need."

Although the coronary heart disease death rate in the Lothians has levelled off in recent years, it is still far lower than in 1998 to 2000 when it stood at 144.7. During those two years, 284 people died – 73 more than in the most recent figures – and health experts are committed to bringing it down further.

Dr Alison McCallum, director of public health at NHS Lothian, said: "While we are not complacent, it is encouraging to see that the work we're doing in encouraging healthy lifestyles appears to be paying off in terms of reductions of deaths from heart disease of people with deprived backgrounds. We have made providing practical help, referrals to other services and support to people in so-called hard-to-reach communities a major part of our work.

"This includes help to access services, practical support to help people stop smoking and become more active, all delivered in partnership with primary care, our local authority partners and community health projects."

Across Scotland, progress has been made since 1998 in reducing death rates in the most deprived wards from 162.4 to 117.7.