Posts Tagged Health in Scotland

Childhood, teenage and young adult cancers

April 6, 2011 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health ·Tagged , , , ,

These reports were published in March 2011.

“For the purposes of this publication, teenagers and young adults (TYA) are defined as persons between 15 and 24 years of age; the distribution of cancers in this age group differs from that found in both adults and children and a separate classification has been created and accepted internationally. To provide information to support decision making on cancer diagnosis and treatment services available to this age group in Scotland, data in the main publications for this age group have been re-analysed in accordance with the TYA cancer classification system.

Key Points

In the 30 year period 1979-2008 there were 5,267 cancers diagnosed in persons aged between 15 and 24 years, an average of 176 per year and representing less than 1% of malignant neoplasms (invasive cancers) diagnosed in a given year in Scotland. Incidence has risen over that period, but has been largely stable over the last two 5 year periods with the exception of some specific types of cancer.

The observed survival rate has increased over the same time period: for all cancers combined, survival at one year after diagnosis has increased by 11 percentage points, to approximately 94% of diagnoses, while five year survival has increased by 16 percentage points to 83%.”

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Healthy life expectancy

April 4, 2011 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health ·Tagged ,

This report was published in March 2011.

“Although both life expectancy (LE) and healthy life expectancy (HLE) at birth have been increasing in Scotland in recent years, they tend to be lower than in the UK as a whole. Indeed, Scotland has one of the lowest levels of LE in Western Europe. The Scottish Government has included targets to increase HLE in Scotland Performs.

This publication is an update of the Healthy life expectancy topic on the ScotPHO website. Previously unpublished LE and HLE data are included for Scotland for 2009 and the key findings are discussed below. In addition, the policy context page and data pages on intermediate geographies and UK comparisons have been updated with previously published data from other sources.

Key Points

  • Underlying trends in both LE and HLE at birth show a general improvement in Scotland over recent years.
  • There is a major discontinuity in the HLE series between 2008 and 2009 due to a change in methodology to align with the European Union. For each sex, the estimate of HLE at birth for Scotland for 2009 is over 8 years lower, and cannot be considered as part of the same series as earlier years. The 2009 estimate will become the first point in a new time trend for future years.
  • The most recent single year estimates for Scotland are for the average boy born in 2009 to live to 76.0 years, 60.0 of these in ‘healthy’ health. The average girl born in 2009 would be expected to live to 80.6 years, 62.2 of them in ‘healthy’ health.”

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A New Look at Hall 4 – the Early Years – Good Health for Every Child

January 25, 2011 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged ,

This guidance was published in January 2011.

“This guidance has been developed following extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders including front-line practitioners and parents/carers and takes account of the views expressed. It sets out the way forward for the successful delivery of Health for All Children (Hall 4) in the early years – a time where children’s futures can be shaped by appropriate levels of support and intervention.

It supplements the 2005 guidance – Health for All Children 4: Guidance on Implementation in Scotland1- and addresses key issues identified as requiring further clarification. It is aimed at front-line practitioners, clinical leaders and others involved in the planning and delivery of health services to children and their families. Whilst aimed at the NHS, it recognises the need for inter-professional and multi-agency working, to deliver the best quality of care and support for children and their families in the vital early years.”

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Health in Scotland 2009 Time for Change: Annual Report of the Chief Medical Officer

November 25, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged

This report was published in November 2010.

“In last year’s Annual Report, I indicated that, although life expectancy ( LE) has continued to improve in Scotland, other western European countries have experienced faster increases in the health of their populations. Most of our closest European neighbours are reporting longer life expectancy at birth for both men and women than in Scotland. However, wealthier Scots continue to experience a faster growth in life expectancy than their neighbours in poorer areas and in the past year, these trends have continued. Since 1999, life expectancy in males living in the poorest 15% of areas in Scotland has increased by 1.4 years while life expectancy for males living in the rest of Scotland has increased by 2.1 years. The corresponding figures for females are 1.2 years for those living in the poorest areas and 1.6 years for the rest of Scotland.

The widening gap is even more apparent when considering healthy life expectancy – the length of time an individual might expect to live in good health. Since 1999, residents of the poorest 15% of areas have seen a gain in healthy life expectancy ( HLE) of 2.1 years for men and 1.1 years for women while men and women in the rest of Scotland have seen increases in HLE of 2.9 and 2.3 years respectively. The pattern of slow improvements in health status in poor areas of Scotland with the wealthier improving faster, mirrors Scotland’s international position. Countries in Western Europe with higher life expectancies than ours are often improving at a faster rate. Unless Scotland accelerates gains in life expectancy, particularly amongst the poorest communities, it will continue to fall behind other countries. Many of the policies and projects currently underway have been designed to produce a change in approach and to accelerate improvements. However, we need to do more. At a time of economic uncertainty, threats to the health of disadvantaged individuals increase and, if Scotland is to continue to progress and to do so at accelerated pace, new approaches to health creation need to be considered.”

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Cancer Incidence (2008)

November 4, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health ·Tagged ,

These statistics were published in October 2010.

“In recent years, the overall age-standardised incidence rates have fallen slightly for males and increased slightly for females. However, the rates do show considerable variation between cancers, with substantial increases in melanoma of the skin and kidney cancers (both sexes), and decreases in stomach (both sexes) and lung cancers (males only). Actual numbers of cases of cancer have risen over the last decade, largely due to an ageing population.”

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Cancer Mortality (2009)

November 4, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health ·Tagged , , ,

These statistics were published in October 2010.

“In recent years, the overall age-standardised cancer mortality rates have fallen for both males and females. However, there is considerable variation in trends for different types of cancer. For example, the rate of female deaths due to colorectal cancer has decreased 14% over the last 10 years, while female death rates due to lung cancer have increased almost 12% over the same time period.

Although the age-standardised rate of death due to cancer has decreased, the actual number of deaths due to cancer has increased: this largely reflects an increase in older age groups within the population, and the fact that cancer is a relatively common disease among the elderly.

Significant patterns exist when examining incidence and mortality rates by deprivation in Scotland. The most deprived areas have higher incidence and mortality rates for all cancers combined. However, there are variations in this pattern when looking at specific types of cancer, for example malignant melanoma.”

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Scottish Health Survey 2009

October 1, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health, Social Sciences ·Tagged

These findings were published in September 2010.

“The purpose of the Scottish Health Survey is to provide reliable information on the health and health-related behaviours of people in Scotland living in private households. The survey estimates the prevalence of a range of health conditions and behaviours and monitors progress towards key Scottish Government health targets.”

The main report and technical report are also available online.

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Diabetes Action Plan 2010: Quality Care for Diabetes in Scotland

September 1, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health ·Tagged , ,

This report was published August 2010.

“This Action Plan is a continuation of the range of work set out in the Scottish Diabetes Action Plan published in 2006. The importance of continuity of effort was one of the main messages to emerge from the consultation process undertaken between June and August 2009. The  Better Diabetes Care consultation document was widely distributed and made available online.”

“Since the previous Action Plan was published in 2006, Scotland has continued to see a steady increase in the prevalence of diabetes (Fig. 1). Although much of the rise can be attributed to better monitoring and data collection, it still represents a serious concern. This undesirable trend reflects what is happening in the rest of the UK and in other parts of the world. The number of people with type 2 diabetes in Scotland is currently increasing at a rate of 4% per year.”

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Scottish Breast Screening Programme Statistics 2008/2009

August 4, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health ·Tagged ,

These statistics were published in July 2010.

“The Scottish Breast Screening Programme is part of a UK-wide programme of free mammographic screening for breast cancer, which was set up in 1988 with the aim of reducing mortality. In 2008, the NHS Breast Screening Programme in Scotland celebrated its 20th Anniversary. Since full national coverage was attained in 1991 there have been over 2.3 million screening episodes and approximately 17,000 breast cancers diagnosed.

In 2008-09, approximately 1,500 cases of screen detected breast cancer were diagnosed in women of all ages.
NHSBSP Performance Standards, at 31st March 2009:
  • Looking at three year performance standard attendance figures, uptake remains similar to last year, at approximately 75%.
  • All NHS Boards continued to exceed the minimum performance attendance standard of >70% of women invited during the previous three years.
  • Looking at three year combined data, uptake fell with increasing deprivation from approximately 82% in the least deprived category to 64% in the most deprived category. Women in the most deprived quintile failed to meet the minimum performance standard of 70%.
  • Comparing three year combined performance figures for those women with a previous screen within 5 years of last attendance, the invasive cancer detection rate has increased from 5.7 to 6.0 per 1,000 women screened in 2006-2009.
  • In 2008/09, 10 of 11 NHSBSP (NHS Breast Screening Programme) Minimum Performance Standards were met.”

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Breastfeeding Statistics

June 3, 2010 at 9:00 am · Filed under Health ·Tagged , ,

These statistics were published on 25th May 2010.

“Encouraging and supporting breastfeeding is recognised as an important public health activity.  There is good evidence that breastfeeding in infancy has a protective effect against many childhood illnesses. Breastfed infants are likely to have a reduced risk of infection, particularly those affecting the ear, respiratory tract and gastro-intestinal tract. This protective effect is particularly marked in low birth weight infants. Other probable benefits include improved cognitive and psychological developments, and a reduced risk of childhood obesity. There is evidence that women who breastfed have lower risks of breast cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer and hip fracture later in life.

A key section of the 2007 Scottish Government action plan ‘Better Health, Better Care’ lays out the benefits of giving children the ‘best possible start’. These actions include encouraging NHS Boards to increase the proportion of newborn children who are exclusively breastfed.   A health improvement target has been set to increase the proportion of newborn children exclusively breastfed at 6-8 weeks in Scotland from 26.2% in 2006/07 to 32.7% in 2010/11 (an increase of 25%).”

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