Life expectancy on increase in Lothians

IT should come as no surprise having been the home of the country's oldest woman but now it's official, people in the Lothians are living longer.

New figures show the average age of a Lothians resident has increased by three years over the last decade. It now makes the area the third best in Scotland to live, behind Grampian and the Borders.

The rapid improvement of West Lothian towns is one of the main reasons behind the improvement, while the Capital itself has moved up the league table from 14th to sixth.

Despite the overall hike, health inequalities remain, and the gap between rich and poor does not appear to be closing.

Dermot Gorman, consultant in public health for NHS Lothian, said: "We are pleased to see that people in Edinburgh and Lothian are now living longer than ever before. This rise is due to a whole range of reasons including improved lifestyle, living and working conditions as well as better healthcare.

"Our commitment to health improvement initiatives, such as our stop smoking services, is contributing to this increase by ensuring that people who are most likely to have poor health have wider access to health services."

In Edinburgh, the average age of death for a woman is 81.5, and 77 for a man, and East Lothian has average lifespans of 81.2 and 76.7. Despite improvement, West Lothian still lags behind, with the average male reaching 76 and women surviving to 79.7. In Midlothian, men have an average age of 76.6 and women 79.7.

But it is estimated that people in the poorest areas of Edinburgh have a worse life expectancy than Iraqis.The Liberal Democrats' health spokesman Ross Finnie said: "We need to ensure that where you are born does not influence what your life expectancy will be."

In spite of that, the Scottish Government said the overall picture was encouraging.

Public Health Minister Shona Robison said: "In the current financial climate it is more important than ever to ensure that increasing life expectancy for all Scots remains a priority."