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North-south health divide 'widening'
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The north-south divide in standards of health and wealth is at its widest since records began, a report says.
Scotland experiences some of the worst health and highest rates of poverty in Britain, according to researchers at the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research at Bristol University.
The study - which looked at health and wealth indicators by parliamentary constituency - found that Glasgow topped the poor health table.
Six of the city's constituencies are included in a table of the UK's worst 15.
The highest mortality rate is recorded in Glasgow Shettleston, which has a death rate 2.3 times the national average - and 3.4 times that of the most healthy area, Wokingham, in Berkshire.
| Health-wealth divide facts |
 | Infant mortality rates are two times higher in Salford than in South Suffolk |
| 1990s mortality rates for deaths under 65 have risen to 2.6 times higher in areas such as Manchester Central than in areas like Sheffield Hallam |
Glasgow Govan has 2.8 times as many people with a limiting long-term illness than Wokingham.
Infant mortality rates are twice as high in Glasgow Anniesland - the constituency of Scotland's First Minister Donald Dewar - as in Esher and Walton in Surrey.
The Scottish Nationalist Party has condemned the statistics and called for the Scottish Parliament to be given "full control of all fiscal policies".
Spending to increase
Health spokeswoman Kay Ullrich said: "Spending on public services in Scotland is set to increase by a mere 1.8% per annum during the comprehensive spending review period, compared to an increase of 4.5% in England."
Authors and editors of The Widening Gap say that the health differences are a result of "increasing inequalities in income and wealth".
| Health-wealth divide facts |
| GCSE failure rates are 1.5 times higher in the worst health areas compared to the best |
| There are 4.2 times as many households with children living in poverty in the worst health constituencies, compared to the best health constituencies |
One of the report's authors Professor George Davie Smith said: "The difference between the better off and the worse off has increased absolutely dramatically.
"Even in the last couple of years under a new government there has been rather little relative to what has happened over the last 20 years to reduce that."
Shettleston GP Dr Alan McKinnon said: "Well I think we see far more premature heart disease, we see cancers of all sorts far more prevalent in this area than in more well off areas, we see far more alcoholism, we see far more abuse of hard drugs, we see obesity as a growing problem in this area, as it is indeed throughout Scotland.
"We see the results of that in higher levels of diabetes, we see very high levels of mental illness. These are, I think, the signs of poverty."
 The report links poor health and poverty |
"That's significant additional investment into these services but, just as importantly, we're making sure that those resources are targeted particularly to individuals and communities in the greatest need."
The book lists the premature mortality and poverty rates for each of the 641 British parliamentary constituencies and lists the MPs and the political party they represent.
Other findings included:
The authors found that in general, people with less money and worst health chances are represented by Labour.
The authors say that current government policy on social exclusion will not be enough to change the trend, and they are calling for a radical redistribution of wealth.
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Key:
SMR<65 - Age-sex standardised mortality ratios for deaths under 65, men and women.
Avoidable - Percentage of deaths which would not have occurred if the "worst health" areas had the death rate of the "best health" areas
Infant mortality rate - Death rate per 10,000 in the first year of life
% children in poverty - % of households with children living in poverty, using the Breadline Britain poverty index
SIR<65 - Age-sex standardised illness ratio for under 65s, using limiting long-term illness rates
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 | 02 Dec 99 | Scotland |
| Glasgow: Bad for your health? |
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| 22 Nov 99 | Scotland |
| Executive aims to end child poverty |
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| 24 Nov 99 | Scotland |
| Prosperity 'a tale of two cities' |
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| 16 Nov 99 | Business |
| Help for the 'financially excluded' |
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| 09 Nov 99 | UK Politics |
| Child poverty to be 'halved in a decade' |
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| 04 Nov 99 | Health |
| Social exclusion: Behind the headlines |
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Internet links: | |
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| University of Bristol |
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| Scottish Executive |
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| Social Exclusion Unit |
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| Scottish health on the web |
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| Social exclusion in Scotland |
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| Health Education Board for Scotland |
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