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Evidence of Need

How do we know that there is still a need for Newcastle Healthy City?

Click here for current statistical Health and Wellbeing information from Newcastle City Council.

The following information is from the Regional Health & Well-Being Strategy

Life expectancy and all-cause mortality

The 2003-2005 directly standardised all-cause all-age mortality rate for North East men was 862 per 100,000 population (England 760)
The 2003-2005 directly standardised all-cause all-age mortality rate for North East women was 604 per 100,000 population (England 532)
Between 1993 and 2005 all-cause all-age mortality in the North East fell by 25% (England 23%)
Between 1993 and 2005 below the age of 75 all-cause mortality fell by 31% (England 28%)
From 2002-2004 life-expectancy at birth for men in the North East was 75.0 years (England 76.6)
From 2002-2004 life-expectancy at birth for women in the North East was 79.6 years (England 80.9)
Between 1993 and 2005 male life-expectancy in the North East rose by 6.3 hours per day (England 6.3 hours per day)
Between 1993 and 2005 female life-expectancy rose in the North East by 5 hours per day (England 3.9 hours per day)
Life-expectancy in Japan is now 78.7 years for men and 85.6 years for women

Infant mortality

In 2005 the North East infant mortality rate was 4.5 per 1000 live births (England 5.0 per 1000). Below 7 days, the North East had the lowest rate of any region
The rate of deaths in the first 28 days of life was 2.8 per 1000 live births (England 3.4)
The rate of deaths in the first 7 days of life was 2.1 per 1000 live births (England 2.6)
In 2005 the North East stillbirth rate was 5.7 per 1000 births (England 5.4 per 1000)
The infant mortality rate in Iceland in 2001-2003 was 2.4 per 1000 live births

Major diseases

In 2003-2005 the North East had a mortality rate for circulatory disease per 100,000 of 309 for men and 196 for women (England 275 and 175)
Between 1993 and 2005 all-age mortality from circulatory diseases fell by 55% (England 51%)
In 2003-2005 the North East had a mortality rate for cancers per 100,000 of 252 for men and 176 for women (England 217 and 154)
Between 1993 and 2005 all-age mortality from cancers fell by 20% (England 17%)
If regional improvements in mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke continued on the linear trends that occurred from 1993 to 2005, the North East would have the lowest rates of any region by 2017 and 2027 respectively

Smoking

The General Household Survey reported smoking prevalence in 2004 for North East men to be 28% and women 30% (England 26% and 23%)
In 2003 support in the North East for a comprehensive smoke-free work place law including pubs and clubs was about 35%. Today it is nearer 70%, and our region has the highest rates of compliance in the country
The North East has the highest rate of NHS Stop Smoking Service quitters of any region, even allowing for regional prevalence.

Diet and obesity

In 2000-2002 obesity affected 24.7% of men in the North East (England 20.8%)
In 1994-1996 the equivalent figure had been 14.7% (13.1%)
In Japan, obesity affects 2.9% of the male and 3.3% of the female population, in Italy 9.3% and 8.7% respectively.

Alcohol

North East mortality rates for chronic liver disease including cirrhosis rose by an average of 7.24% per year from 1993 to 2005 (England 5.3%)

Education

In 2004-5, 5.1% of boys and 3.5% of girls gained no passes at GCSE or equivalent in the North East (England 4.4% and 2.8% respectively)
In 2006 52.9% of boys and 61.9% of girls gained 5 or more grade A* to C GCES (England 53.8% and 63.4%)
From 2000 to 2006 the proportion of children gaining 5 or more grade A* to C GCES increased faster in the North East than in any other region – if those rates of improvement were sustained, the North East would have the highest of any region by 2010

Winter warmth

The average number deaths per month in December to March expressed as a percentage of the average number of non-winter deaths (in the preceding autumn and following summer) is called the Excess Winter Deaths Index (EWDI). For the North East The EWDI has been, on average, the lowest of any region in England since 2002 at 14.3% (England 16%)
However, this represented, in 2005-6, an excess of 1100 avoidable deaths. In context, the annual excess of deaths in the North East resulting from all causes compared to the national average is about three times this number