Townsfolk catching up in race for longevity

Folks in the town live just over one year less than the national average and also have a higher rate of cancer and lung and circulatory diseases.

Average life expectancy in the borough, according to the 2003-2005 figures, is 75.4 years for men and 80.1 years for women, compared to the national figures of 76.9 years for men and 81.1 years for women.

NHS bosses in Doncaster have announced a programme of health boosting measures to help people in Doncaster enjoy longer and healthier lives.

The ‘early impact’ programme will target communities with below average health by investing in initiatives that can produce faster health gains.

Schemes include more local quit smoking sessions and new ways of encouraging people to take advantage of cancer screening so potential health problems can be detected earlier.

The programme is outlined in Doncaster’s newly published 2007 Public Health Annual Report.

Dr Tony Baxter, Joint Director of Public Health for Doncaster Primary Care Trust and Doncaster Council, said: “Because too many Doncaster people are dying too young from illnesses that are preventable we have introduced additional short to medium term interventions to supplement what we are already doing on a long-term basis to tackle the problem.

“Compared to the rest of the country, Doncaster has significantly higher death rates from cancers and chronic lung and circulatory diseases. Our challenge is to narrow the divide that currently exists between communities that enjoy good health and those that don’t.

“Although overall life expectancy in Doncaster is improving and, in recent years, there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of premature deaths from heart disease, many local people still suffer from poor health.

“The government has set primary care trusts like ours a 10-year target to improve the general health of the most disadvantaged in our society. By 2010 we need to have made a 10 per cent improvement against local health figures benchmarked between 1997 and 1999.”

The programme will be funded from Doncaster PCT’s current budgets.