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The latest official stats show that most people can expect to live a longer and healthier life than ever before - but in Jersey, there's still a one-in-three chance of dying prematurely.
In fact, approximately 250 people a year die in Jersey before their 75th birthday - making their deaths officially ‘premature.’ And not surprising, cancer, heart disease and strokes are the main causes.
Image provided by the Public Health Statistics Unit.
According to the latest report released by the States’ Public Health Statistics Unit, Jersey ranked ‘significantly higher’ than the English average for premature deaths from 2013-2015, meaning Islanders are more likely to live to see their 75th birthday when compared with the average in England.
Jersey would be ranked 46th out of 151 regions when comparing the Island with the Public Health England rankings:
Image provided by the Public Health Statistics Unit
The report showed cancer to be the main cause of premature deaths in the Island, with Jersey ranking well above average in the number of deaths caused by lung cancer - a statistic which the Strategic Public Health Unit says, "...shows the legacy of historically high smoking rates" in Jersey.
Marguerite Clarke, Senior Public Health Analyst, presented the report to media yesterday afternoon.
In Jersey, lung cancer is responsible for over 50 deaths each year causing Jersey to rank 115th out of 151 areas in England:
Image provided by the Public Health Statistics Unit.
Jersey ranked worse than the English average for premature deaths caused by cancer however the Public Health Statistics Unit stressed that the Island was not considered to be “significantly” worse.
From 2013-15, the Island had an age standardised rate of 149 deaths per 100,000 population for premature cancer caused deaths, compared to an average rate in England of 139 per 100,000.
Compared to regions across England, Jersey ranked 93 out of 151 regions for premature deaths caused by cancer:
Image provided by the Public Health Statistics Unit
Speaking about the benefit of such a report, and how the numbers translate to actual change, Duncan Gibaut, Chief Statistician, said: “This [the report] is the scientific basis for the analysis that allows all these policy questions to be investigated and interventions to be explored.”
Jill Birbeck, Head of Health Intelligence, said: “While some of this is not good news the statistics reflect the information available in other published reports (e.g. Health Profile for Jersey 2016, Avoidable Mortality 2015).
“It underpins the work currently being done by Public Health (e.g. .Tobacco strategy, Alcohol strategy and draft Food & Nutrition Strategy) to try to reduce the harm caused by today’s modern behaviours and to make healthy choices easier."
A full link can be found below to the full report which includes premature death statistics for heart disease and strokes as well as other causes of premature death.
The Public Health Statistics Unit has just published: Premature Mortality 2013-2015. You can read the report here: https://t.co/20d2zXJeYL pic.twitter.com/2KAh0csMgB
— Jersey Stats Unit (@JsyStats) March 28, 2017
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