Winter mortality figures 2018/19 released
Figures released by National Records of Scotland show that fewer deaths were registered in Scotland last winter than the previous year.
‘The winter mortality figures for 2018/19 show that there are fewer winter deaths than in previous years,’ said Gerry McCartney, Head of the Scottish Public Health Observatory, NHS Health Scotland. ‘This could mean that the stall in life expectancy we have seen since 2012 is due to a change in the trends across the whole year, not just in winter. This reinforces our understanding that the stall in life expectancy is due to a change in almost all causes of death, for all age groups, and across all seasons.
‘It’s concerning that these trends are worse in our poorer communities leading to widening inequalities. Overall, this means that people in Scotland are dying unnecessarily in midlife over the last seven years. This is not only unfair, and preventable, but also means this inequality is behind the lack of improvement in life expectancy since 2012.’
For more information on the 2018/19 winter mortality figures, visit www.nrscotland.gov.uk.
Beuatiful tree with climate, weather or season change