The Ferret and Greater Govanhill magazine have teamed up to examine responses to health inequalities as part of a new collaborative project – Mind the Health Gap.

By Alastair Brian and Petra Matijevic

Over the coming months, we will be developing a series of investigations into the health gap, assessing potential solutions to the issue.

As the project launches, The Ferret’s fact checking arm – Ferret Fact Service – has taken a look at some of the indicators of health inequality, to explore how poor health can hit some harder than others.

Life Expectancy

80.8 – average life expectancy for women in Scotland

76.6 – average life expectancy for men in Scotland

After consistently increasing for over the last four decades, overall life expectancy stalled in Scotland in 2013-15. This took place at the same time as other causes of death were increasing, particularly drug and dementia deaths. Since 2017-2019, women’s life expectancy has fallen by 19 weeks, while men’s has fallen by 33 weeks. Much of this was due to covid.

Postcode related differences in life expectancy is one of the starkest indicators of health inequalities in Scotland. In Govanhill East for example, life expectancy from 2016-2022 was slightly below the Scottish average; 78 years for women and 72 for men.

Women in the most deprived areas of Scotland have a life expectancy 10.5 years fewer than those in the least deprived areas. For men, the gap is 13.7 years. Scotland’s life expectancy is the lowest in the UK.

Healthy Life Expectancy

61.8 – estimated healthy life expectancy for women in Scotland

60.9 – estimated healthy life expectancy for men in Scotland

This is different to overall life expectancy, and estimates the number of years people live in ‘very good’ or ‘good’ general health. This is based on how people perceive their own health in an annual survey. Healthy life expectancy in Scotland has reduced in Scotland since 2015-17.

The difference between the least and most deprived areas in Scotland shows an even wider gap than for overall life expectancy. Those living in the least deprived areas can expect to live in good health for around 24 years longer than those in the most deprived.

Avoidable Mortality

64,093 – deaths registered in Scotland in 2020

17,153 – of which were considered to be avoidable

Avoidable mortality is a measure of deaths which were preventable or treatable through effective available healthcare. The rate of deaths had been relatively similar in years prior to the 2020, but increased during the height of the covid pandemic.

Those in Scotland’s most deprived areas are 3.9x more likely to die from an avoidable death than those in the least deprived areas. The leading causes of avoidable deaths were cancers, circulatory system diseases and alcohol and drug related issues, as well as covid.

Deaths of those aged 15-44

119 – deaths per 100,000 in 2020

96.8 – deaths per 100,000 in 2014

Deaths of those between 15 and 44 are also measured by National Records of Scotland. It tells us how many people in Scotland are dying in the period of their life when they should be relatively healthy.

The mortality rate of people in Scotland in this age range decreased between 2002 and 2014, but increased again after that.

In 2020, you were 9x more likely to die between the ages of 15 and 44 in Scotland's most deprived areas compared to its least deprived areas. The absolute gap between the most and least deprived areas reached its widest level in at least 25 years.

Cancer incidence rate under 75

136.5 people per 100,000, cancers of the trachea, bronchus and lung in most deprived areas

27.8 people per 100,000, cancers of the trachea, bronchus and lung in least deprived areas

Cancer rates for those under 75 have been broadly increasing in Scotland in the past two decades, from 417.5 people – per 100,000 in 1999 to 447.1 people in 2019. Overall, cancers are more common in the most deprived areas of Scotland, but this is not the case for every type of cancer.

Mental wellbeing of adults

15 percent of those surveyed annually said they have below average wellbeing

24 percent from most deprived areas said they have below average wellbeing

The Scottish Government measures the mental wellbeing of Scots on the Warwick-Edinburgh mental wellbeing scale. It uses a survey with multiple choice questions to assess the mental health of the population.

Adults in the most deprived areas are about 3x more likely to have below average wellbeing than those in least deprived areas.

For the next part of this series, we’ll be looking at access to healthcare as well as the impact of the cost of living crisis. Tell us your experiences here.