Smoking's high city toll
YOUR health depends on where you live.
That's according to data unveiled by the Department of Health this week which reveals problems with smoking, teenage pregnancies and obesity across our area.
Just days from the introduction of the public smoking ban on July 1, a shock report shows that more people die from smoking in Portsmouth than anywhere else in the region.
A total of 13 out of the city's 14 wards are ranked in the poorest fifth of places in the whole of the South Central area.
The health profiles for each area show:
There are more smoking-related deaths in Portsmouth than anywhere else in our area, at 331 per 100,000
Teen pregnancy rates in Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant are all well above the national average
Obesity rates are higher than the national average in Fareham, Gosport and Havant
Early death rates from cancer, stroke and heart disease in Portsmouth are well above those for England
East Hampshire has the lowest teen pregnancy rate in our area at 20.6 per cent - half the England average
Men and women in Portsmouth and Gosport die younger than the England average
Now health bosses will use the information to step up their fight to improve the area's health.
Paul Edmondson-Jones, Portsmouth Primary Care Trust's director of public health, said: 'The message is we have got to work together.
'Merely tackling heart disease is not going to be enough.
'We also have to reduce fear of crime and improve educational attainment, which brings prosperity.'
The government has issued the figures, available on the Department of Health website, for the second year running.
Public health minister Caroline Flint said: 'Information about health and well-being in your local area is essential for assessing the needs of the local population and monitoring how well health improvement strategies are working.
'One of our priority areas is smoking. We already know 10 million adults smoke but knowing where the local problem areas are helps target quit-smoking programmes effectively.'
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
