Scots stay healthy for longer – but still die earlier than rest of UK

Published on Thursday 27 November 2008 21:03

SCOTS are living longer without suffering the effects of poor health, but still have the lowest life expectancy in the UK.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday showed that, across the UK, the length of time men could expect to live without disability had increased from 60 in 2000-2 to 62 in 2004-6.

During the same period, disability-free life expectancy rose from 63 to 64 in women.

Scottish men saw a big improvement, meaning an extra 20 months of life free of disability such as dementia, heart disease or another chronic condition.

Campaigners welcomed the improvements, but warned more needed to be done to care for the ageing population.

The report, published in Health Statistics Quarterly, found that, at birth in 2004-6, Scottish males could expect to live for an average of 74.6 years, compared with 77.2 years in England. Scottish women's life expectancy was 79.6 years – the lowest in the UK.

The figures showed Scottish men enjoyed a longer disability-free life than those in Wales or Northern Ireland – 62 years compared with 60 for the other two areas. For women, disability-free life expectancy was 63 in Scotland, 64 in England and 61 in Northern Ireland.

Lindsay Scott, from Help the Aged Scotland, welcomed the increase in healthy lifespan, but he warned improvements in care were not happening quickly enough to keep up with the growing number of older people needing help. "We have an ageing population and nobody wants to experience poor health as they get older and even before they retire," he said.

"The fact is that our facilities to take care of this ageing population are currently not good enough and we need to look at how we are going to fund that."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: "It is good to know that healthy life in Scotland is improving, but it is not improving fast enough."