In the borough of Rochdale a person will die about 2.4 years earlier than most other people in England and Wales. We also have less “healthy” years of life than people in many other parts of the country. Within the borough itself, the picture is much worse. A baby born in certain areas of the borough today is likely to die eight years earlier than a baby born in other parts.
There are many reasons for these differences. Locally, one quarter of children aged between four and five are overweight or obese; 28% of adults smoke; 22% of people binge drink. We have one of the highest rates in the country for heart disease and stroke. Deaths from cancer and smoking related diseases are also very high. The picture of health is not all bad and progress has been made in a number of areas. Life expectancy in the borough is slowly increasing, infant death rates have reduced and deaths from heart disease and cancer are reducing.
But we need to do better. We want to work with you to improve the health of the borough. Last year we launched a series of health pledges tackling lifestyle issues to help improve the health and well-being of everyone in the borough over the next three, five and ten years. Some of these pledges include helping 5000 people to quit smoking, slowing the growth in diabetes to less than 8% and helping 9000 people to lose weight.
We are already making strong progress in meeting these goals, contributing to helping you live longer and healthier lives.
What do we want to achieve?
